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DEC  1  m\ 

GIFT 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

GIFT    OF 

1 
1 

I 

Class 

X»  VVckAvOrv^  J-^  CiV\S  "brrilM  . 


ONE  LINE  OF  DESCENDANTS 


FROM 


Dolar  Davis  and  Richard  Everett 


Including  Numerous  Marriage  Connections] 


COMPILED    BY 

MRS.  WILLIAM  SUMNER  CROSBY 

173  Gardner  Road 

BROOKUNE,  MASSACHUSETTS 


BOSTON 

PRESS  OF  GEO.  H.  ELLIS  CO. 

191Z 


c: 


'^ 


^ 


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^ 


W        tt-in-^»^d*^  , 


WILLIAM  SUMNER  CROSBY 

attb  mg  &0n 

SUMNER  CROSBY 


226123 


The  writer  has  been  for  many  years  interested  in  genealogy. 
Therefore,  she  has  taken  every  opportunity  to  learn  something 
of  her  own  family.  And  she  has  been  fortunate  in  having  had 
an  acquaintance  with  those  who  have  been  intimately  associ- 
ated with  ancestors  of  her  own,  born  in  the  last  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

She  presents  these  records  to  her  descendants,  feeling  assured 
that  they  are  of  such  value  to  them  as  to  be  worthy  of  their 
careful  consideration. 

It  is  so  clearly  pointed  out  where  these  heads  of  the  different 
families  have  resided  that  with  comparatively  little  effort  the 
records  may  be  verified. 

ELEANOR  [DAVIS]   CROSBY. 
Bbookline,  Mass.,  1911. 


He  is  a  coward  who  would  borrow 

A  charm  against  the  present  sorrow 

From  the  vague  future's  promise  of  delight: 

As  life's  alarums  nearer  roll. 

The  ancestral  buckler  calls. 

Self -clanging,  from  the  walls 

In  the  high  temple  of  the  soul. 

James  Russell  Lowell. 

Endurance  is  the  crowning  quality. 
And  patience  all  the  passion  of  great  hearts; 
These  are  their  stay,  and  when  the  leaden  world 
Sets  its  hard  face  against  their  fateful  thought. 
And  brute  strength,  like  a  scornful  conqueror. 
Clangs  his  huge  mace  down  in  the  other  scale. 
The  inspired  soul  but  flings  his  patience  in, 
And  slowly  that  outweighs  the  ponderous  globe, — 
One  faith  against  a  whole  earth's  unbelief. 
One  soul  against  the  flesh  of  all  mankind. 

Jaues  Russell  Lowell,  in  Columbus. 


DOLOR  DAVIS. 

The  writer  has  taken  the  Hberty  to  present  largely  the 
main  facts  contained  in  the  narrative  of  Dolor  ^  Davis,  his 
son  Samuel  ^  Davis,  and  grandson  Lieut.  Simon  ^  Davis,  as 
given  in  the  pamphlet  of  Hon.  Horace  Davis  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, Cal.,  in  1881. 

The  career  of  Dolor  Davis,  in  New  England,  is  that  of  a 
pioneer  who  by  his  energy  and  industry  in  subduing  the 
wilderness  was  a  type  of  those  enduring  qualities  which 
distinguished  his  descendants  in  later  generations.  By  trade 
he  was  a  house-builder,  added  to  which  was  farming. 

Dolor  Davis  was  born  late  in  the  sixteenth  century,  for 
he  died  in  June,  1673,  "at  the  ripe  age  of  80,"  says  one 
chronicler.  His  birthplace  was  probably  in  Kent  County, 
England.  His  wife  was  from  Kent,  his  associates  in  New 
England  were  largely  with  Kentish  men,  and  the  name  of 
Davis  is  very  common  in  Kent  County. 

Dolor  Davis  was  twice  married,  first  to  "Margerye 
Wilerd"  on  March  29,  1624.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
Richard  Willard,  "by  second  wife  Margery,"  who  was 
buried  at  Horsmonden,  Dec,  1608,  when  Margery,  the 
daughter,  was  six  years  old;  for  she  was  christened  Nov.  7, 
1602.  Richard  Willard  was  of  Horsmonden,  County  of 
Kent.  He  died  1617,  leaving  a  large  estate,  mostly  in 
lands,  part  of  which  came  to  his  daughter  Margery  Willard 
and  another  part  to  the  son,  Simon  Willard,  who  was  later 
the  founder  of  Concord,  in  New  England. 

The  first  record  we  have  of  Dolor  Davis,  in  New  England, 
is  on  the  Proprietors'  Records  in  Cambridge  [New  Towne], 
of  a  grant  of  twenty-five  acres  on  Aug.  4,  1634;  also  a 
house-lot,  June  4,  1635.  The  wife  Margery  is  supposed  to 
be  the  "Margerett  Davies,  age  32,  who  with  three  children, 
John  Davies  (9  years  old),  Marie  Davies  (4),  Elizabeth 
Davies  (1),  sailed  on  the  Elizabeth,  from  the  port  of  London, 
April  17,  1635,  Wm.  Stagg,  master." 


There  is  much  uncertainty  about  Dolor  Davis  and  family 
ever  having  had  a  residence  in  Cambridge.  He  sold  the 
above-named  house-lot  in  August,  1635.  He  moved,  with 
considerable  persistence,  from  place  to  place  during  nearly 
all  of  his  life,  possibly  because  this  frequent  change  in 
residence  gave  him  a  better  opportunity  to  pursue  his 
trade  as  a  carpenter. 

In  1638  he  was  in  Duxbury.  In  1640  he  took  part  in 
founding  Barnstable.  In  1643  he  was  an  inhabitant  of 
Barnstable,  "able  to  bear  arms";  freeman  1645.  In  1655 
he  removed  to  Concord.  In  the  same  year  he  petitioned 
with  others  to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  Colony 
for  a  grant  of  land  in  what  is  now  Groton,  Mass.,  and  on 
the  29th  of  May  was  made  one  of  the  new  selectmen.  In 
1656  his  name  appears  on  a  petition  for  remission  of  taxes 
in  Groton;  but  he  seems  never  to  have  made  Groton  his 
home,  for  on  Aug.  20,  1655,  "he  bought  of  Roger  Draper 
his  house  and  farm  in  Concord."  In  the  conveyance  he  is 
called  "Husbandman."  Meanwhile  he  sold  his  property  in 
Barnstable  for  "corn  and  cattle,"  the  documents  recording 
the  various  payments  and  the  transfer  itself  being  in  the 
Plymouth  Records.  In  them  he  is  styled  "house-carpen- 
ter." Margery  Davis  joined  in  the  acknowledgment, 
which  is  the  last  record  we  have  of  her.  She  probably  died 
in  Concord  before  1666,  in  which  year  Davis  left  Concord. 

Dolor  Davis  had  lands  granted  to  him  in  Concord  in 
1659,  and  in  1664  he  signed  a  petition  to  the  General  Court 
as  "an  inhabitant  of  Concord." 

Of  the  three  children  brought  over  from  England,  John 
and  Mary  were  married  and  settled  on  the  Cape,  Eliza- 
beth probably  died  young.  Three  more  children  were  born 
in  America,  and  they,  too,  were  married  and  settled,  but 
in  or  near  Concord. 

In  1666  Davis  left  Concord  and  returned  to  Barnstable, 
and  was  again  admitted  as  an  inhabitant,  where  his  name 
appears  on  various  documents.  He  married,  after  his  re- 
turn to  Barnstable,  Mrs.  Joanna  Bursley,  born  in  England, 
1620,  daughter  of  Rev.  Joseph  Hull  and  widow  of  Capt. 


9 

John  Bursley.  She  was  living  in  1683.  Dolor  Davis  ac- 
cumulated a  large  property  for  those  times,  which  he  dis- 
tributed mostly  among  his  children  during  his  lifetime. 
On  the  13th  of  September,  1672,  he  made  his  will,  which 
has  his  autograph  signature,  showing  that  he  had  some 
education.  He  always  wrote  his  Christian  name  Dolar. 
The  will  was  proved  July  2,  1673.  He  probably  died  late 
in  June. 

The  will  recites  that  he  has  already  provided  for  his 
sons  Simon  and  Samuel;  and  then  he  bequeaths  his  house 
and  land  in  Concord  to  his  son  John,  adding,  "I  also  be- 
queath to  him  my  carpenters  tools  and  serge  suit  and  cloke." 
The  inventory  of  estate  in  Concord  was  "£125  5s.  7d,'* 
That  he  made  a  favorable  impression  on  others  is  shown  by 
the  following: — 

"Perhaps  of  all  the  families  which  came  to  New  England, 
not  one  can  be  selected  more  worthy  of  our  esteem,  and 
unqualified  approbation  than  that  of  Dolor  Davis.  As  a 
man  he  was  honest,  industrious  and  prudent;  as  a  chris- 
tian tolerant  and  exact  in  the  performance  of  his  religious 
duties;  as  a  neighbor  kind,  obliging,  and  ever  ready  to 
help  those  who  needed  his  assistance;  and  as  a  father 
and  the  head  of  his  family  he  was  constantly  solicitous 
for  the  welfare  of  all  its  members,  cultivating  those  kindly 
feelings  and  amenities  of  life  which  render  home  delight- 
ful."    (Amos  Otis,  in  Barnstable  Families.) 

Samuel  2  Davis,  b.  1639;  m.  at  Lynn,  Mass.,  Jan.  11, 1665, 
Mary  Meaddows;  settled  in  that  part  of  Concord  which 
afterwards  was  set  off  as  Bedford.  Mary  [Meaddows] 
Davis  d.  at  Concord,  Oct.  3,  1710.  He  m.  second,  Oct. 
18,  1711,  Ruth  Taylor.  She  d.  Aug.  6,  1720.  He  was 
the  father  of  seven  children. 

Samuel  Davis  was  made  freeman  March  21,  1689-90. 
He  was  with  Major  Simon  Willard  at  the  Brookfield  fight 
on  Sept.  28,  1675.     (King  Philip's  War,  p.  121.) 

His  farm  was  on  the  back  road  from  Concord  to  Bedford, 
about  three  miles  from  Concord  town,  on  the  edge  of  the 


10 

river  meadow.  A  well  is  there  which  he  is  said  to  have  dug. 
The  property  is  still  owned  by  one  of  his  descendants. 
He  does  not  appear  to  have  served  in  civil  life. 

June  20,  1690,  petitioned  Concord  authorities  for  "a 
bridal  path  from  his  house  to  Billerica  road."  In  1706 
conveys  houses  and  lands  to  his  "two  well  beloved  sons." 
On  May  8,  1713,  he  sells  house,  barn,  and  9  acres  to  Eleazer 
Davis  for  £50.  His  signature  is  autograph,  signing  him- 
self as  "farmer."  The  date  of  his  death  and  place  of 
burial  are  unknown.  It  appears  that  he  gave  his  property 
to  his  family  while  living. 

Simon  ^  Davis,  h.  at  Concord,  Aug.  9,  1683;  m.  at  Stow, 
Mass.,  1719,  Dorothy  Heald, 

dau.  of  Israel  Heald  by  wife  Martha.  He  lived  in  Stow,  and  was  a 
blacksmith;  d.  Sept.  7,  1738,  aged  78.  His  will  is  on  record  at 
East  Cambridge,  and  mentions  daughter  Dorothy  Davis  and 
grandson  Joseph  Davis.     Wid.  Martha  d,  June  14,  1746. 

"Lieut."  Simon  Davis  lived  at  Concord  until  about  1721, 
when  he  moved  to  Worcester  County,  and  settled  in  Rut- 
land; selectman  1721;  innkeeper  1723;  waylaid  and  nearly 
killed  by  the  Indians  in  the  same  year.  Petitions  with 
others  to  the  General  Court  on  May  13,  1740,  to  be  set  off 
in  a  separate  township  to  be  named  Holden.  This  request 
was  granted,  and  Mr.  Davis  was  made  moderator  of  the 
first  town  meeting  in  Holden,  May  4,  1745;  chairman  of 
board  of  selectmen  for  several  years;  also  juryman.  He 
was  closely  identified  with  the  church.  He  d.  Feb.  21, 
1763;  wid.  Dorothy  d.  July  21,  1776.  Eight  children. 
He  was  the  ancestor  of  three  Massachusetts  governors: 
"Honest"  John  Davis,  John  Davis  Long,  and  George  D. 
Robinson. 

The  ancestry  of  Hon.  Horace  Davis  separates  here  from  my  own. 

Joseph  ^  Davis,  h.  at  Concord,  July  16,  1720;  m.  at 
Weston,  May  24,  1743,  Catherine  Jones.  Joseph  Davis 
was  grad.  Harv.  Coll.  1740.  He  was  the  first  ordained 
minister  at  Holden,  preaching  from  1743  to  1773.     He  was 


11 

a  representative  to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts 
1781;  a  member  of  the  convention  held  in  Boston,  1788, 
for  the  ratification  of  the  Federal  Constitution  by  Massa- 
chusetts. He  d.  at  Holden,  March  4,  1799;  wid.  Catherine 
d.  May  15,  1815.     From  his  monument: — 

"He  was  a  man  of  science, 
A  zealous,  pungent  preacher.'* 

Simon  ^  Davis,  h,  at  Holden,  March  10,  1745;  m.  at 
Andover,  Mass.,  June  2,  1771,  Ehzabeth  Clarke. 

Simon  Davis  first  of  Holden,  then  of  Andover,  had  the 
pioneer  spirit  of  his  ancestors.  Soon  after  his  marriage  he 
moved  with  his  friends  into  the  wilderness,  and  became  one 
of  the  first  settlers  in  what  is  now  Woodstock,  Vt.  Here 
he  built  a  log  house,  in  which  his  children  were  born.  He 
was  the  first  deacon  in  the  newly  organized  church,  and, 
being  a  man  of  education,  he  also  organized  a  school  board, 
and  was  himself  the  head  of  it.  He  had  several  grants  in 
land;  was  selectman  and  juror;  prudent  and  industrious, 
adding  to  farming  the  trade  of  Dolor  ^  Davis,  that  of  house- 
building. He  built  and  owned  the  first  mill  for  grinding 
corn  and  the  first  saw-mill  in  Woodstock. 

My  father,  his  grandson,  had  the  facts  relating  to  Simon  ^  Davis 
recorded  in  a  note-book,  with  his  descendants. 

They  had  seven  children:  John,  Simon,  and  Abner  settled 
in  Illinois,  and  were  men  of  influence;  William  and  Oilman 
Davis  removed  to  Boston,  where  the  youngest  son,  Gilman, 
married  Sarah  Tuttle  of  Dorchester,  and  had  his  home  in 
Cambridge. 

They  had  three  daughters. 

Simon  Davis  d.  at  Woodstock,  Jan.  17,  1793;  his  wid. 
Elizabeth  d.  at  Boston,  March  11,  1816. 

WilHam «  Davis,  6.  at  Woodstock,  Vt.,  Feb.  2,  1789;  m. 
at  Waitsfield,  Vt.,  March  9,  1815,  Sarah  Gilbert  Wait. 

Mr.  Davis  moved  to  Boston,  where  his  life  was  unevent- 
ful.    He  was  one  of  the  leading  building  contractors  in  the 


12 

city.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were  deeply  interested  in  the 
Baptist  church  and  in  their  pastor,  Rev.  Dr.  Rowland 
Neal.  Dr.  Neal  preached  the  funeral  sermon  for  William 
Davis  in  the  church  on  Jan.  10,  1830.  The  son  remem- 
bered the  text,  "In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions." 
The  body  was  interred  in  the  basement  of  the  church. 
Mr.  Davis  was  highly  esteemed  by  all  who  knew  him. 
He  accumulated  a  good  property.  Of  his  children  six 
died  young.  Three  children  survived,  the  son,  Almon 
Hemenway  Davis,  and  two  daughters,  Martha  Jane 
and  Phidelia  Davis,  who  married  Eben  Jones  Mathes  of 
Rochester,  N.H. 

Almon  Hemenway  ^  Davis,  b.  at  Boston,  April  12,  1816; 
m.  at  Dedham,  Mass.,  June  2,  1844,  Elizabeth  Everett. 

Mr.  Davis  was  liberally  educated.  He  had  a  rare  com- 
bination of  gifts.  Not  only  was  he  a  fine  classical  student, 
but  he  was  also  a  mathematician  of  unusual  excellence. 
It  was  at  the  Baptist  Theological  School,  at  Newton  Centre, 
that  he  was  suddenly  called  upon  to  teach  Greek  and 
Hebrew;  in  such  an  acceptable  manner  that  he  was  urged 
to  become  a  professor  instead  of  entering  the  ministry,  so 
admirable  was  his  teaching.  He  had  three  parishes.  Of  the 
last  two,  one  in  Providence,  R.I.,  and  one  in  Boston.  He 
left  the  ministry  in  1851  to  become  an  editor.  In  1866 
he  received  a  call  to  become  associated,  on  the  editorial 
sheet  of  the  Chicago  Tribune,  with  his  personal  friend, 
Joseph   Medill,    Esq. 

Mr.  Davis  d.  in  Chicago,  111.,  Oct.  20,  1891;  wid.  Eliza- 
beth d,  in  California,  Dec.  6,  1904. 

Children: — 

1.  Eleanor  Francis. 

2.  Edward  Everett  Davis,  b.  Jan.  9,  1849;  m.  at  Boston, 
Sept.  1,  1881,  Margerett  Adamson.  Children:  Elizabeth 
Everett  Davis,  b.  Oct.,  1882,  d.  in  few  days;  Margerett  Everett 
Davis,  b.  Sept.  20,  1885;  Alice  Everett  Davis,  b.  April  16, 
1892. 


13 

Eleanor  Francis  ^  Davis,  b.  at  Dedham,  Mass.,  March 
14,  1845;  received  her  middle  name  of  Francis  from  her 
mother's  brother,  Francis  Everett;  m.  at  Boston,  Mass., 
Oct.  11,  1877,  William  Sumner  Crosby,  b.  at  Boston,  April 
22,  1844.  The  officiating  clergyman  was  Rev.  James 
Freeman  Clarke,  D.D.  Eleanor  Francis  Davis  was  given 
in  marriage  by  Wendell  Phillips.  It  was  a  home  wedding. 
Mr.  Crosby  has  been  for  many  years  a  prominent  Boston 
merchant. 

Sumner^  Crosby,  b.  at  Boston,  Nov.  12,  1878;  m.  at 
Alameda,  Cal.,  Aug.  6,  1901,  Idolene  Snow  Hooper,  dau. 
of  Charles  Appleton  and  Ida  Geneva  [Snow]  Hooper. 
Mr.  Hooper  is  one  of  the  notable  merchants  of  California. 
Mr.  Crosby  is  grad.  Harv.  Coll.,  A.B.  1900,  M.A.  1901; 
Law  School,  1901-02;  councilman,  city  of  Alameda,  1909- 
10;  assemblyman,  California  State  Legislature,  1910-12. 

Children:  Charles  Hooper  Crosby,  b.  Nov.  28,  1902;  Bar- 
bara Appleton,  b.  May  8,  1904;  Beatrice  Blanchard,  b. 
March  17,  1907;   Sumner  Crosby,  b.  June  10,  1911. 


Jones. 

Lewis  1  Jones,  6.  at  Watertown,  1651;  d,  at  Watertown, 
April  11,  1684.  Will,  dated  Jan.  7,  1678-9,  mentions 
wife  Anna  and  son  Josiah. 

Josiah  2  Jones,  b.  at  Roxbury,  Mass.,  1642;  admitted 
freeman,  at  Watertown,  April  18,  1690;  m.  at  Watertown, 
Oct.  2,  1667,  Lydia  Tread  way;  selectman  at  Watertown 
six  years;  removed  to  Sudbury,  Mass.;  selectman;  d.  at 
Sudbury,  Oct.  9,  1714;  wid.  Lydia  d.  Sept.  18,  1743. 

Lydia  Tread  way,  dau.  of  Nathaniel  Tread  way,  9  yrs.  se- 
lectman at  Watertown.  Treadway  m.  Sufferance  Haynes,  dau. 
of  Walter  1  Haynes,  settled  in  Sudbury,  Dec.  22,  1639;  freeman 
1640;  selectman  10  yrs.;  representative  4  yrs.;  d.  at  Sudbury,  Feb. 
14,  1665,  age  82. 


14 

James  ^  Jones,  b.  Sept.  4,  1679;  m.,  at  East  Sudbury, 
Sarah  Moore.  Capt.  Jones  d.  Sept.  14,  1770,  at  Weston, 
Mass.;  wid.  Sarah  d.  at  Weston,  Sept.  28,  1774,  aged  90. 

Catherine*  Jones,  b.  at  Weston,  April  23,  1721;  m. 
May  24,  1743,  Rev.  Joseph  *  Davis  of  Holden,  Mass. 


Phillips. 

Rev.  George  ^  Phillips,  the  first  settled  minister  at  Water- 
town,  came  to  New  England  in  ship  Arbella,  with  his  friends 
Gov.  Winthrop  and  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall.  He  was  grad. 
of  Gains  Coll.,  Cambridge,  A.B.  1613,  A.M.  1617;  landed 
at  Salem,  Mass.,  June  12,  1630;  wife  Elizabeth  [Sergent] 
Phillips  d.  soon  after  arrival,  and  was  buried  in  Salem  by 
the  side  of  Lady  Arbella  Johnson.  Mr.  Phillips  was  min- 
ister at  Watertown  fourteen  years;  d,  at  Watertown,  July 
1,  1644.  "A  godly  man,  specially  gifted  and  very  peaceful 
in  his  place."     (Winthrop.) 

Samuel  2  Phillips,  b.  at  Boxstead,  England,  1625;  grad. 
Harv.  Coll.  1650;  m.  at  Ipswich,  Mass.,  Oct.  15,  1651, 
Sarah  Appleton, 

dau.  of  Samuel  Appleton,  who  was  in  Ipswich  1634;  one  of  the 
first  town  officers;  deputy  1637;  m.  in  England  Sarah  Everard. 

Mr.  Phillips  was  minister  at  Rowley,  Mass.;  preached 
the  Artillery  Election  Sermon  1675,  Election  Sermon 
1678;  d.  April  22,  1696;  wid.  Sarah  d,  July  15,  1713.  He 
was  considered  one  of  the  first  men  in  the  New  England 
colonies.     (See  Gage's  History  of  Rowley.) 

Samuel  3  Phillips,  b,  at  Rowley,  March  23,  1657-8;  m. 
at  Gloucester,  Mass.,  May  22,  1687-8,  Mary  Emerson, 

dau.  of  Rev.  John  and  Ruth  [Symonds]  Emerson  of  Gloucester. 
Ruth  Symonds  was  dau.  of  Samuel  Symonds  of  Ipswich,  Mass., 
deputy  and  assistant  1638,  later  deputy  governor. 


15 

Mr.  Phillips  was  a  goldsmith  [banker]  at  Salem;  wife 
Mary  d.  Oct.  4,  1703;  m.  second,  1704,  wid.  Sarah  Mayfield. 
He  d,  at  Salem,  Oct.  13,  1722. 


Samuel^  Phillips,  h.  at  Salem,  Feb.  17,  1690;  grad.  Harv. 
Coll.  1708;  m.  at  Haverhill,  Mass.,  Jan.  17,  1711-12, 
Hannah  White,  h.  at  Haverhill,  1691, 

dau.  of  John  White,  Esq.,  by  wife  Lydia  Gilman,  dau.  of  Hon. 
John  Gilman  of  Exeter,  N.H.  John  White  was  dea.  in  the  Haver- 
hill church,  capt.  of  town  company.  He  was  the  grandson  of 
William  ^  White,  who  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  at  Haverhill, 
and  was  one  of  the  grantees  of  the  Indian  deed,  dated  Nov.  15, 
1642,  which  instrument  was,  it  is  said,  both  written  and  signed 
by  him.  "The  Haverhill  town  records  show  that  he  held  a  very 
respectable  social  position."  He  d.  Sept.  28,  1690.  The  grand- 
son, John,  was  brought  up  in  his  family. 

Rev.    Samuel   Phillips   was    minister   of   the    "Old   South 
Church"  at  Andover,  Mass.,  for  sixty  years; 

He  was  an  excellent  man,  so  economical,  it  is  said,  as  to  blow 
out  the  candle  when  he  began  his  evening  prayer,  and  yet  punc- 
tilious in  distributing  among  the  poor  one-tenth  of  his  income, 
of  which  he  kept  account. 

d,  at  Andover,  June  5,   1771;  wid.  Sarah  d,  at  Andover, 
Jan.  7,  1773. 


Lydia  ^  Phillips,  h.  at  Andover,  June  10,  1717;  m.  at 
Andover,  May  18,  1742,  Dr.  Parker  Clarke  of  Andover 
and  Newbury.  Lydia  [Phillips]  Clarke  d,  at  Andover, 
Nov.  4,  1749,  age  32. 

EHzabeth^  Clarke,  h.  at  Andover,  Aug.  18,  1746;  m. 
June  2,  1771,  Simon ^  Davis;  d.  at  Boston,  Mass.,  March 
11,  1816,  in  the  home  of  her  son,  WilHam  Davis. 

I  am  indebted  to  Wendell  Phillips  for  the  line  of  my  Phillips 
ancestors,  and  to  Bond's  Watertown  for  facts  relating  to  their 
lives. 


16 


Wait. 

Richard  ^  Wait,  b.  at  Watertown,  Mass.,  1637;  farmer  in 

Watertown;    m.  Mary  ;    d.  at  Watertown,  Jan.   16, 

1668-9;  wid.  Mary  d.  at  Watertown,  Jan.  21,  1678. 

Thomas  2  Wait,  b.  at  Watertown,  March  3,  1641-2;  m. 
Sarah,  dau.  of  James  Cutler  of  Lexington,  Mass.  Thomas 
Wait  was  a  farmer;  d.  at  Weston,  Mass.,  Jan.  3,  1722-3; 
wid.  Sarah  d.  at  Weston,  Jan.  17,  1743-4,  aged  91. 

Joseph  3  Wait,  b.  at  Watertown,  Feb.  4,  1682-3;  m. 
Sarah,  wid.  of  Joseph  Stone;  in  Sudbury,  Mass.,  1715; 
constable  1735;  removed  to  Worcester,  Mass.,  1743;  d. 
at  Worcester,  Oct.  5,  1753;  wid.  Sarah  d,  at  Worcester, 
April  24,  1754. 

John  *  Wait,  b.  at  Watertown;  bap.  at  Watertown,  Sept. 
26,  1708;  m.  first  at  Watertown,  1727-8,  Hannah  Wel- 
lington, d.  before  March  17,  1764,  the  date  on  which  John 
Wait  m.  second,  Eunice  Morse  of  Sherborn,  Mass., 

dau.  of  John  and  Hannah  [Morse]  Wellington,  descended  from 
Roger  ^  Wellington,  "Planter,"  selectman  at  Watertown  seven 
years.  He  m.  Mary,  dau.  of  Dr.  Richard  Palgrave  of  Charles- 
town,  Mass. 

John  Wait  removed  to  Brookfield,  Mass.,  1746,  having 
bought  a  farm  of  300  acres  on  Foster's  Hill.  He  was  a  vet- 
eran in  the  Indian  Wars.  Five  of  his  sons  were  officers 
in  the  Revolutionary  War.  He  d.  at  Brookfield,  Jan.  27, 
1761. 

See  Temple's  North  Brookfield  for  explicit  information  of  the 
service  of  the  five  sons  as  officers. 

Benjamin^  Wait,  b.  at  Sudbury,  Mass.,  Feb.  13,  1736;  m. 
first,  Jan.  11,  1767,  Lois  Gilbert,  dau.  of  Capt.  Thomas  and 
Martha  [Barnes]  Gilbert  of  Brookfield.  She  d.  at  Waits- 
field,  Vt.,  April  3,  1804;  m.  second  Mehitable,  wid.  of  John 
Burdick. 


17 

Benjamin  Wait  was  a  soldier  in  the  last  French  War, 
1755-61;  ensign  in  Rogers'  Rangers;  settled  in  Windsor, 
Vt.,  1767,  and  became  a  leader  in  the  State  among  the 
Green  Mountain  Boys;  capt.  in  Hoisington's  Rangers  1776; 
major  in  Herrick's  Rangers  1777;  col.  1778;  brig. -gen.  of 
Vt.  militia  1786;  maj.-gen.  1788;  sheriff  Cumberland  Co., 
Vt.,  1779-86;  Cumberland  Committee  of  Correspondence 
1774-5;  Vt.  Const.  Convention,  1777;  rep.  from  Windsor, 
Vt.,  1779,  1782,  1783,  1785;  first  settler  of  Waitsfield,  Vt., 
1789,  and  chief  man  of  the  town  until  his  death;  rep.  1795- 
99,  1801-2;  first  justice  of  the  peace  1791;  treasurer  1795; 
selectman  1794-96  and  1799. 

The  following  is  from  the  History  of  Waitsfield,  Vt.,  by 
Matt  Bushnell  Jones,  copyright  1909.  Some  of  the  facts 
herein  stated  had  already  appeared  in  the  Brookline 
Chronicle  over  the  writer's  signature,  and  were  in  part  the 
result  of  frequent  conversations  with  her  grandmother, 
who  was  the  grand-daughter  of  Gen.  Benjamin  Wait,  in 
whose  home  she  lived  from  1799  until  the  year  of  her  mar- 
riage to  William  ^  Davis  in  1815.  Before  printing  her 
sketches,  she  had  verified  the  different  statements  in  various 
records,  histories,  etc. : — 

"The  eastern  range  of  the  Green  Mountains  cleft  the 
town  from  north-east  to  south-west,  and  for  miles  on  every 
side  the  wilderness  of  forest  lay  unbroken.  To  the  east 
of  this  mountain  range  the  land  presented  few  attractions, 
but  to  the  west  a  big  basin  lay  between  the  hills,  fertile, 
well  watered,  and  easily  accessible  through  passes  cut  by 
the  little  river  that  followed  its  winding  course  to  the  north- 
ward. 

"Benjamin  Wait,  whose  name  was  given  to  the  town,  had 
early  marked  this  valley  for  his  own,  but  other  duties  claimed 
him  for  the  time,  and  not  until  the  spring  of  1789  did  he 
come  hither,  with  his  children  and  his  sons'  children,  to 
establish  a  home  in  the  meadows  north  of  the  present  village. 
He  was  a  veteran  of  two  wars,  almost,  it  might  be  said, 
a  soldier  by  profession,  for  the  French  War,  the  conflict 
of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys  against  New  York,  the  Revo- 


18 

lution,  and,  after  its  close,  the  active  command  of  forces 
engaged  in  the  internal  conflict  that  culminated  in  Shays 's 
Rebellion  had  taken  more  than  twenty  of  the  best  years 
of  his  life.  He  was  a  well-to-do  and  highly  respected  citi- 
zen of  the  then  populous  and  important  town  of  Windsor. 
He  had  for  seven  years  been  high  sheriff  of  Cumberland 
and  Windsor  Counties,  and  had  but  just  resigned  the  high- 
est military  office  in  the  gift  of  the  State,  that  he  might  free 
himself  for  his  fresh  struggle  with  the  wilderness.  He  had 
sat  in  the  convention  that  adopted  the  constitution  of  the 
new  State,  and  had  taken  high  rank  among  the  founders  of 
the  little  republic  that  was  still  knocking  ineffectually  at 
the  doors  of  the  Union. 

"He  was  of  the  type  of  pioneer  who  builded  well,  and,  the 
impress  of  his  strong  character  may  still  be  traced  in  the 
town  of  which  he  became  in  every  sense  its  first  citizen. 
It  is  therefore  appropriate  that  at  the  threshold  of  this 
little  work  we  pause  a  moment  to  trace  the  story  of  his 
earlier  years. 

"Benjamin  Wait,  third  son  of  John  and  Annah  Wait,  was 
born  in  Sudbury,  Mass.,  Feb.  13,  1736.  His  mother  died 
when  he  was  but  a  child,  and  his  father,  marrying  again,  re- 
moved to  Brookfield,  Mass.,  about  1745.  Here  he  kept 
a  tavern  on  Foster's  Hill.  His  home  stood  on  the  old 
Boston-Albany  highway,  and,  as  its  proprietor  was  himself 
a  veteran,  this  hostelry  was  for  years  famous  among  the 
soldiers  of  the  French  Wars,  who  were  wont  to  linger  there 
upon  their  journeys.  We  can  picture  Benjamin  and  his 
brothers  lying  of  a  winter  evening  before  the  great  fire- 
place in  the  living-room,  while  in  the  dim  light  of  the  open 
fire  the  father  and  his  guests  related  over  the  steaming 
punch-bowl  tales  of  warfare,  suffering,  and  Indian  barbarity 
that  sent  the  youngsters  shivering  to  their  attic  beds. 

"Environment  seldom  shows  its  influence  more  strongly 
than  upon  this  family  of  six  boys.  John,  the  eldest  son, 
saw  service  in  the  campaign  of  1757  and  with  the  Massa- 
chusetts troops  during  the  Revolution.  Joseph,  enlisting 
in  1754,  became  the  captain  of  a  company  of  Rogers'  Ran- 


19 

gers,  and  was  continuously  in  service  until  1761.  Remov- 
ing to  Claremont,  N.H.,  he  became,  upon  the  outbreak  of 
the  Revolution,  lieutenant-colonel  in  Bedel's  Regiment  of 
New  Hampshire  troops,  and  received  a  mortal  wound  dur- 
ing the  fighting  around  the  fort  of  Lake  Champlain,  just 
previous  to  the  naval  battle  at  Valcour.  Richard,  next 
younger  than  Benjamin,  enlisted  at  the  age  of  seventeen 
in  the  French  War,  and  was  a  captain  in  Herrick's  Rangers 
at  Bennington;  while  two  half-brothers,  enlisting  in  the 
Massachusetts  troops  on  April  19,  1775,  saw  practically 
continuous  service  in  the  army  under  Washington  until 
the  close  of  the  war. 

**The  military  experiences  of  Benjamin  Wait  began  with 
the  campaign  of  1755,  for  which  he  had  enlisted  at  the 
age  of  18.  The  plan  of  that  campaign  involved  attacks 
upon  the  French  at  four  points  simultaneously.  Brad- 
dock  was  to  advance  upon  Fort  Duquesne ;  provincial 
troops  from  New  England,  New  York,  and  New  Jersey  were 
to  seize  Crown  Point,  and  another  body,  drawn  wholly 
from  New  England,  was  to  subjugate  Acadia;  while 
Shirley  was  to  reduce  Niagara  with  two  regiments  raised 
wholly  in  the  provinces,  but  taken  into  the  king's  pay  and 
designated  as  Shirley's  and  Pepperell's  respectively.  These 
forces,  with  one  New  Jersey  regiment,  pushed  forward  through 
the  wilderness  to  Oswego,  but,  checkmated  by  want  of 
provisions  and  the  presence  of  a  strong  French  force  at 
Frontenac,  the  little  army  waited  until  the  approach  of 
winter  made  further  action  impossible. 

"Here,  shivering  in  the  chill  winds  of  winter  and  suffer- 
ing the  pangs  of  hunger,  young  Wait  saw  more  than  half 
his  regiment  die  of  the  attacks  of  these  twin  enemies.  Re- 
enforcements  were  started  in  the  spring,  but,  ere  they  reached 
the  Great  Carrying  between  the  head-waters  of  the  Hudson 
and  Ontario,  the  French,  under  Montcalm,  had  descended 
on  Oswego,  and  had  taken  it  with  its  garrison  of  some 
fourteen  hundred  men. 

"A  scene  of  drunkenness  and  plunder  followed,  and 
several    prisoners    were    butchered    by    the    Indian    allies. 


20 

More  would  have  fallen  but  for  the  efforts  of  Montcalm. 
Here  or  on  some  preliminary  skirmish  [on  this  point  only 
there  seems  to  be  some  doubt]  young  Wait  was  taken  pris- 
oner, and  by  his  Indian  captors  compelled  to  run  the  gaunt- 
let. Other  prisoners  had  received  hard  usage,  so  when 
his  turn  came,  believing,  as  stated  by  a  grandson  who 
heard  him  tell  the  story,  that  'spunk'  would  be  a  good 
antidote  for  savage  barbarity,  he  [still  in  the  words  of  his 
grandson]  'ran  through  with  clenched  fists  as  vicious  as 
a  wild  bull,  knocking  them  from  one  side  to  the  other, 
and  when  they  see  him  approaching  they  had  little  time 
enough  to  take  care  of  themselves.'  Rescued  from  the 
Indians  by  a  French  woman,  who  hid  him  under  a  cask 
in  her  cellar,  he  was  turned  over  to  the  French,  and  held 
for  some  months  as  prisoner  of  war.  Later  he  was  sent 
with  other  prisoners  to  France,  only  to  be  rescued  by  a 
British  man-of-war  and  brought  back  to  his  native  shores. 
"Immediately  he  enlisted  under  his  brother  Joseph, 
then  captain  of  a  company  of  Rogers'  Rangers,  of  whom 
Parkman  has  said  in  one  of  his  matchless  descriptive  pas- 
sages: 'The  best  of  them  were  commonly  employed  on 
Lake  George;  and  nothing  can  surpass  the  adventurous 
hardihood  of  their  lives.  Summer  and  winter,  day  and 
night,  were  alike  to  them.  Embarked  in  whale-boats  or 
birch  canoes,  they  glided  under  the  silent  moon,  or  in  the 
languid  glare  of  a  breathless  August,  when  islands  floated 
in  dreamy  haze,  or  the  hot  air  was  thick  with  odors  of 
pine,  or  in  the  bright  October,  when  the  jay  screamed  from 
the  woods,  squirrels  gathered  their  hoard,  and  congregated 
blackbirds  chattered  farewell  to  their  summer  haunts; 
when  gay  mountains  basked  in  light,  maples  dropped  their 
leaves  of  rustling  gold,  sumacs  glowed  like  rubies  under 
the  dark  green  of  the  unchanging  spruce,  and  mossed 
rocks  with  all  their  painted  plumage  lay  double  in  the 
watery  mirror;  that  festal  evening  of  the  year  when  jocund 
nature  disrobes  herself,  to  wake  again  refreshed  in  the  joy 
of  her  undying  spring;  or  in  the  tomb-like  silence  of  the 
winter-forest,  with  breath  frozen  on  his  beard,  the  ranger 


21 

strode  on  snowshoes  over  the  spotless  drifts,  and,  like 
Durer's  Knight,  a  ghastly  death  stalked  ever  at  his  side.' 

"In  the  spring  of  1758  a  powerful  force  was  gathered  for 
the  reduction  of  the  French  fortress  at  Louisburg,  and 
placed  under  the  command  of  the  newly  created  general, 
Jeffrey  Amherst.  To  this  army  were  assigned  several  com- 
panies of  rangers,  the  only  provincial  troops  in  the  com- 
mand. 

"On  June  2  the  fleet  of  Admiral  Boscawen  sailed  into 
Gabarus  Bay,  and  at  daybreak  on  the  8th  the  troops  at- 
tempted a  landing.  In  the  division  under  General  Wolfe, 
the  future  hero  of  Quebec,  which  was  to  make  the  real 
attack,  were  the  New  England  rangers.  We  cannot  enter 
into  details  of  that  conflict.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  under 
heavy  fire  the  boats  were  driven  to  the  shore,  a  landing 
made,  and  the  French  batteries  captured.  Young  Wait 
was,  if  his  own  relation  of  the  story  is  to  be  credited,  in 
command  of  one  of  these  boats,  and,  when  his  men  faltered 
and  lay  down  to  screen  themselves  from  the  French  fire, 
he  told  them  to  stand  up  to  their  work  or  take  to  the  water. 
After  the  fall  of  Louisburg  he  returned  with  those  troops, 
which  Amherst  led  immediately  to  the  re-enforcement  of 
Abercrombie  at  Lake  George,  where  he  arrived  early  in 
October,  1758.  Here  until  the  close  of  the  war  he  was 
engaged  directly  under  Rogers  in  the  capacity  of  ensign  in 
his  brother's  company. 

"July,  1759,  saw  a  slow  advance,  with  Ticonderoga, 
Crown  Point,  and  Montreal  as  its  objectives.  The  French 
successively  abandoned  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  and 
fell  back  to  the  foot  of  the  lake,  while  Amherst  dawdled 
away  the  summer.  In  August  he  attempted  to  communi- 
cate with  Wolfe  at  Quebec,  but  the  St.  Francis  Indians, 
who  throughout  the  war  had  been  the  scourge  of  the  New 
England  frontiers,  seized  the  messengers  and  carried  them 
to  Montreal.  Rogers  was  straightway  ordered  to  destroy 
their  village,  which  lay  on  the  St.  Francis  River  near  its 
junction  with  the  St.  Lawrence, — a  journey  of  more  than 
two  hundred  miles  through  an  unbroken  wilderness.     Tak- 


22 

ing  about  200  of  his  best  men  [among  them  Joseph  and 
Benjamin  Wait],  he  set  out  in  boats  on  September  13,  and 
on  the  tenth  day  reached  Missisquoi  Bay,  his  force  reduced 
by  accident  to  142.  Hiding  the  boats,  these  men  struck 
boldly  into  the  forest,  but  on  the  second  day  two  friendly 
Indians  brought  the  news  that  a  party  of  French,  superior 
in  numbers,  were  on  their  track.  Rogers,  nothing  daunted, 
kept  on,  outmarched  his  pursuers  for  nine  days  through 
swamp  and  forest,  fell  upon  the  village,  killed  200  Indians, 
took  20  prisoners,  and  released  5  English  captives,  with 
loss  of  1  killed  and  7  wounded.  Then,  as  his  return  was 
blocked,  and  waiting  but  an  hour  for  rest,  he  plunged 
southward  up  the  St.  Francis,  intending  to  return  by  way 
of  Lake  Memphremagog  and  the  Connecticut  River.  The 
scanty  provisions  failed  as  they  reached  the  lake,  and, 
closely  pursued,  the  men  separated  into  small  parties,  the 
better  to  obtain  game.  Several  were  killed  or  captured, 
and  others  perished  from  starvation.  So  reduced  were 
they  that  powder-horns  and  leathern  accoutrements  were 
boiled  to  furnish  sustenance.  The  loss  was  more  than 
one-third  of  the  total  number.  It  was  anticipated  that 
succor  would  reach  them  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ammonoo- 
suc  River,  to  which  place  Rogers  had  requested  provisions 
to  be  sent,  but,  when  that  point  was  reached,  the  famished 
soldiers  found  only  the  still  warm  ashes  of  the  camp-fires 
deserted  by  their  rescuers,  who,  waiting  but  two  days,  had 
retreated  in  a  panic,  taking  the  provisions  with  them. 
Leaving  the  others  to  follow  as  best  they  could,  Rogers 
with  three  companions  pressed  on,  and  after  five  days  of 
almost  incredible  suffering  reached  No.  4  [Charlestown, 
N.H.],  and  despatched  provisions  to  the  sufferers,  many  of 
whom  soon  returned  to  service  on  Lake  Champlain. 

"Meanwhile  Quebec  had  fallen,  and  in  the  summer  of 
1760  the  British  advanced  upon  Montreal  from  east, 
west,  and  south.  The  rangers  were  with  Haviland,  who 
advanced  down  Champlain  from  Crown  Point. 

"The  French  fell  back  upon  the  St.  Lawrence,  abandon- 
ing St.  John's,  and  Haviland  followed,  with  the  rangers 


23 

leading  the  way.  The  various  English  forces  formed  their 
junction  at  Montreal,  and  on  September  8  Vaudreuil  signed 
the  capitulation  by  which  Canada  passed  to  the  British 
crown.  Here  Wait  saw  once  more  in  British  hands  the 
colors  of  his  regiment  captured  by  the  French  at  Oswego, 
four  years  before. 

"Four  days  later  Amherst  ordered  Rogers  to  proceed 
westward  with  Capt.  Wait's  and  Capt.  Hazen's  company 
of  rangers  to  take  possession  of  Detroit,  Michilimackinac, 
and  other  forts  in  that  district.  The  next  day  [September 
13]  they  left  Montreal  in  whale-boats,  and  Rogers's  journal 
follows  in  detail  the  movements  of  the  party.  Reaching 
Detroit,  Lieut.  Butler  and  Ensign  Wait  with  twenty  men 
were  sent  westward  to  bring  in  the  French  troops  at  Forts 
Miami  and  Gatenois.  This  service,  performed  in  dead  of 
winter,  made  a  lasting  impression,  and  in  later  years  Wait 
related  how  the  men,  becoming  disheartened  and  benumbed 
with  cold,  would  beg  of  him  to  shoot  them,  instead  of  which 
he  switched  their  legs  with  sticks  until,  aroused  by  anger, 
they  resumed  their  march. 

"Not  until  the  spring  of  1761  did  these  troops  reach 
New  York,  and  not  until  October  were  they  disbanded, 
so  that  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  Wait  found  himself  a 
veteran  of  six  years  of  constant  and  exacting  warfare,  hav- 
ing participated  in  more  than  forty  skirmishes  and  battles. 

"Returning  to  Brookfield,  he  seems  to  have  interested 
himself  with  his  brother  Joseph  in  urging  forward  settlers 
to  towns  on  the  Connecticut  River,  but  it  was  not  until 
1767  that  he  married,  and  with  his  girl-wife  pushed  out  to 
the  frontier  to  make  himself  a  home.  He  chose  a  farm  in 
Windsor  West  Parish,  and  here  he  remained  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  marked  from  the  beginning  as  one  of  the 
leading  men  of  Eastern  Vermont. 

"Windsor  was  a  hot-bed  of  sympathy  with  the  New 
Hampshire  Grants,  and  her  citizens,  prominent  among 
whom  were  Benjamin  Wait  and  his  brother  Joseph,  met  the 
New  York  authorities  with  open  defiance  and  not  infre- 
quently with  actual  violence.     In  May,  1770,  Benjamin  and 


24 

his  brother  Joseph  were  arrested  on  a  New  York  warrant, 
but  rescued  by  their  friends.  Before  the  end  of  the  month 
the  New  York  sheriff,  Daniel  Whipple,  had  gathered  a  posse 
of  some  fifteen  men  and  attempted  a  recapture,  but  the 
brothers,  having  collected  a  party  of  friends,  gave  battle 
and  took  the  sheriff  and  his  entire  party  prisoners,  and  held 
them  so  for  several  hours,  until  better  judgment  prevailed 
and  they  turned  the  captives  loose. 

"It  occasions  no  surprise  that  a  man  of  these  character- 
istics was  prompt  to  volunteer  upon  the  outbreak  of  the 
Revolution.  It  has  been  said  that  Wait  was  with  Allen 
at  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga,  but  this  at  best  is  doubtful. 

If  the  grand-daughter's  statement  is  correct,  that  General  Wait 
said  he  was  there,  and  if  miHtary  records  in  my  possession  prove 
anything,  then  he  was  there. — E.  D.  C. 

Certain  it  is,  however,  that  in  June,  1775,  in  spite  of  his 
opposition  to  that  colony,  he  joined  with  William  Williams 
and  Joab  Hoisington  in  a  letter  to  the  New  York  authori- 
ties urging  that  a  regiment  of  'good,  active,  enterprising 
soldiers'  be  raised  for  the  defence  of  the  section,  and  ten- 
dering his  services  as  lieutenant-colonel.  Two  months 
later  he  was  chosen  major  of  the  upper  regiment  in  Cum- 
berland County,  but  confirmation  was  refused,  presumably 
because  of  his  former  opposition  to  New  York. 

He  said  to  his  grand-daughter  that  such  was  the  case;  that 
his  promotions  were  deferred  because  he  had  defied  the  New 
York  authorities,  but  that  he  won  his  spurs  in  spite  of  them. — 
E.  D.  C. 

Not  until  October,  1776,  was  he  commissioned,  and  then 
received  appointment  as  captain  of  the  first  company  of 
Joab  Hoisington's  Rangers,  raised  for  service  on  the  north- 
ern frontiers  with  headquarters  at  Newbury.  These  troops 
performed  a  varied  and  somewhat  uncertain  service,  some- 
times acting  under  and  sometimes  in  open  defiance  of  the 
New  York  authorities.  In  fact,  the  spirit  of  hostility  to 
New  York  had  become  so  great  that  not  only  were  the 
rangers  slow  to  act  under  her  orders,  but  when  in  February, 


25 

1777,  an  attempt  was  made  to  enlist  a  regiment  for  ser- 
vice at  Ticonderoga,  the  recruiting  officer  was  obliged  to 
report  *the  men  are  averse  to  go  out  under  the  State  of 
New  York;  neither  do  I  think  it  possible  for  me  to  raise 
any  more.'  It  may  be  truly  said  that  after  the  campaign 
of  1775  Vermont's  position  was  defensive:  she  did  not  fight 
except  to  defend  her  own  borders  from  invasion,  and  with 
good  reason,  for  she  was  an  outcast,  strained  to  the  utmost, 
and  maintaining  her  existence  as  best  she  might  by  force 
or  by  diplomacy  against  the  foreign  enemy  upon  the  north 
and  still  more  bitter  opponent  upon  her  western  border. 

"Hoisington  died  early  in  1777,  and  Wait,  with  rank  of 
captain,  took  command  of  the  battalion.  In  May  the 
New  York  Council  of  Safety  ordered  the  rangers  to  Kings- 
ton, but,  as  there  were  no  funds  to  support  the  men  on  the 
march,  they  refused  to  go.  A  month  later  (June  27), 
aroused  by  the  advance  of  Burgoyne,  the  council  resolved 
that  the  rangers  be  peremptorily  ordered  to  repair  to  Kings- 
ton, N.Y.,  and  funds  were  sent  to  Wait  to  defray  the  ex- 
pense. In  obedience  to  orders  he  proceeded  to  Newbury, 
only  to  find  that  his  men  had  marched  to  Ticonderoga. 
A  few  days  later  the  evacuation  of  that  fort  dispersed  them, 
and  on  July  14  he  ordered  them  to  proceed  to  Kingston. 
The  men  refused  to  go,  however,  on  the  ground  that  their 
own  frontiers  and  families  must  be  protected.  This  situa- 
tion Wait  reported  to  the  council,  who  declared  their  sat- 
isfaction with  his  conduct,  but  declined  action  on  the 
conduct  of  the  rangers. 

"Amidst  all  these  activities  Wait  found  time  for  civil 
service.  Elected  on  the  Standing  Committee  of  Corre- 
spondence for  the  County  at  the  Cumberland  Convention 
at  Westminster  in  February,  1775,  he  was  now  called  to  rep- 
resent his  town  in  the  convention  which  met  at  Windsor 
to  adopt  a  constitution  for  the  new  State.  In  the  midst 
of  its  deliberations  came  the  news  of  St.  Clair's  retreat, 
and  at  once  confusion  reigned,  but,  after  a  short  delay, 
work  was  resumed  and  the  draft  under  consideration 
adopted.     Forthwith  the  newly  organized  Council  of  the 


26 

State  voted  to  raise  a  regiment  of  rangers  under  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Herriek.  In  this  regiment  many  from  the  older 
companies  of  rangers  seem  to  have  enlisted,  and  among 
them  were  Benjamin  Wait  and  his  younger  brother  Richard, 
with  the  rank  of  major  and  captain,  respectively,  Benja- 
min receiving  his  commission  under  date  of  Sept.  3,  1777. 

"Three  weeks  later  Col.  Brown  and  Major  Wait,  with 
some  500  men,  were  ordered  to  the  vicinity  of  Ticonderoga 
to  cut  Burgoyne's  lines  of  communication, — a  service  so 
eflSciently  performed  that  Wait  was  commended  for  *  spir- 
ited conduct'  by  the  Council. 

"In  February,  1778,  an  expedition  into  Canada  was  pro- 
posed, and  Vermont  was  requested  to  furnish  a  regiment  of 
rangers.  Herriek  and  Wait  were  at  once  commissioned 
as  colonel  and  lieutenant-colonel,  respectively,  but  the 
project  was  abandoned,  and  we  know  no  more  of  Wait's 
activities  until  October  23,  1779,  when  the  Council  ap- 
pointed him  as  sheriff  of  Cumberland  County, — an  office 
that  was  then  little  less  than  military,  and  which  he  con- 
tinued to  hold  for  seven  years,  except  during  his  absence 
on  the  frontiers.  In  the  same  month  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  State's  Board  of  War,  of  which  body  he  seems 
to  have  continued  an  active  member  until  the  close  of  the 
Revolution.  In  1780,  with  rank  of  major,  he  was  in  the 
field  at  the  time  of  the  attacks  on  Royalton  and  New- 
bury, and  in  January,  1781,  he  was  commissioned  major 
of  the  First  Regiment  of  Vermont  Militia,  and  immediately 
detailed  for  service  on  the  frontiers. 

"Throughout  the  war,  disturbances  continued  between 
the  partisans  of  New  York,  who  were  particularly  numer- 
ous in  Windham  County,  and  those  who  sought  to  uphold 
the  authority  of  Vermont.  In  1783  these  dissensions 
reached  their  height.  Guilford  was  entirely  in  control  of 
the  New  Yorkers,  and  their  resistance  to  Vermont  authority 
became  so  determined  that  Governor  Chittendon  was  driven 
to  adopt  stringent  measures.  In  October  the  Assembly 
provided  for  raising  'one  hundred  able  and  effective  men 
to  assist  the  civil  authority  in  carrying  into  effect  the  law 


27 

in  the  southern  part  of  the  County  of  Windham,'  and  to 
Wait  was  intrusted  the  command  with  the  rank  of  colonel. 

"Negotiations  having  failed,  Wait's  regiment  and  other 
militia  gathered  at  Brattleboro  on  Jan.  20,  1784,  but, 
after  a  slight  show  of  resistance,  the  Yorkers  fled  and  the 
authority  of  the  State  was  upheld. 

"Early  in  November,  1786,  a  mob,  led  by  citizens  of 
Barnard  and  Hartland,  gathered  to  prevent  the  sitting  of 
the  court  at  Windsor, — an  outbreak  that  was  but  a  part 
of  Shays's  Rebellion.  Wait,  as  sheriff,  read  the  riot  act  and 
dispersed  them,  but,  one  of  the  number  being  tried  for  riot 
on  November  14,  a  second  mob  collected.  Wait,  acting 
not  only  as  sheriff,  but  as  colonel  of  the  Third  Regiment, 
ordered  a  company  of  his  men  from  Weathersfield  to  come 
to  Windsor.  With  40  of  these  men  he  set  out  before  light 
on  the  17th,  and,  deceiving  the  guards  by  taking  a  circui- 
tous route,  attacked  the  house  in  Hartland  at  which  the 
rioters  were  assembled.  Twenty-seven  of  the  leaders  were 
captured,  but  not  until  Wait  had  received  a  wound  that 
incapacitated  him  for  nearly  a  month.  This  experience 
lingered  in  his  memory,  and  in  old  age  he  used  to  lament 
the  fact  that,  after  passing  through  many  years  of  military 
service  without  a  scratch,  he  was  finally  nearly  killed  by 
some  of  his  old  companions-in-arms  while  engaged  in  the 
enforcement  of  the  laws. 

"March  1,  1767,  he  was  elected  brigadier-general  in 
command  of  the  Third  Brigade  of  militia,  and  on  the  records 
of  the  Governor  and  Council  for  Aug.  24,  1788,  appears 
this  minute : — 

"'A  letter  received  from  General  Wait  resigning  his 
ojffice  as  Brigadier-General  being  read,  the  Secretary  is 
directed  to  inform  the  General  that  they  are  unwilling  to 
discharge  him  until  further  consideration,  and  request  his 
continuance  in  service.' 

"Here  ends  a  soldiery  that  covered  a  period  of  more 
than  thirty  years.  It  was  an  honorable  service,  and  marked 
Wait  as  an  efficient  military  leader.  He  was  equally  a 
leader  in  other  things,  as  he  was  yet  to  demonstrate. 


28 

"In  1788  his  town  of  Waitsfield  was  first  surveyed  and 
lotted,  and  in  the  following  spring  he  made  preparation 
to  begin  its  settlement.  Let  us  consider  for  a  moment  his 
situation.  He  was  fifty-three  years  old.  He  was  leaving 
the  first  home  his  hands  had  made,  and  in  which  his  chil- 
dren had  all  been  born.  Poverty  did  not  drive  him  forth, 
for  he  ranked  high  among  the  well-to-do  citizens  of  the 
thriving  town  of  Windsor,  which  then  ranked  tenth  in  pop- 
ulation in  the  State.  He  was  not  seeking  cheap  land.  His 
fortune  in  the  drawings  had  been  poor,  and  he  had  purchased 
six  hundred  acres  within  the  limits  of  the  town.  He  was 
at  the  head  of  the  military  affairs  of  Vermont,  had  repre- 
sented his  town  for  four  years  in  the  General  Assembly, 
and  was  well  and  favorably  known  throughout  the  State.  He 
could  look  forward  with  reasonable  certainty  to  an  honorable 
old  age,  spent  in  such  comfort  as  the  times  afforded. 

"Just  what  reasons  urged  him  to  take  the  step  we  cannot 
now  know,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  welfare  of  his  children 
was  the  primary  cause.  The  care  with  which  he  settled 
them  around  him  and  endowed  them  with  his  lands  would 
seem  to  show  it.  He  may  have  been  a  pioneer  by  nature, 
as  his  children  were  pioneers  after  him,  but,  whatever  the 
reason,  we  may  congratulate  ourselves  that  he  saw  fit  to 
stamp  upon  our  town  the  impress  of  his  character. 

"No  sooner  was  he  fairly  settled  here  than  he  began  to 
draw  about  him  old  neighbors  and  companions-in-arms,  anch 
one  likes  to  think  that  his  strong  character  drew  hither  the 
men  of  sterling  qualities  so  numerous  among  our  early 
settlers." 

It  is  very  true  that  General  Wait  was  a  pioneer  in  spirit,  his 
life  had  forced  him  to  be  such,  but  Mr.  Jones  has  not  touched 
upon  the  main  fact  which  is  connected  with  General  Benjamin 
Wait's  leaving  Windsor,  Vt.  He  had  been  one  of  the  first  settlers 
in  this  town,  the  first  town  meeting  was  held  in  his  home,  and 
he  was  elected  at  this  meeting  the  chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Selectmen.  He  was  a  forceful,  independent  citizen,  fearless  and 
outspoken,  and  ready  for  action  at  any  moment.  He  never 
recovered  from  the  fact  that  he  was  nearly  killed  by  his  old 
friends  and  neighbors,  and  this  is  the  reason  why  he  went  again 


29 

into  the  wilderness  for  an  environment  that  would  make  him,  in  a 
degree,  forget  old  injuries  and  animosities. 

"In  his  former  home  he  was  a  leader.  Here  he  was  the 
leader.  At  his  call  the  town  was  organized.  He  was  the 
first  selectman.  He  first  represented  it  in  the  General 
Assembly  of  Vermont.  In  his  barn  the  first  church  ser- 
vices were  held,  and  in  his  home  the  voters  of  his  district 
provided  for  the  schools.  He  died  in  Waitsfield,  Vt.,  June 
28,  and  was  buried  with  Masonic  honors  June  30,  1822,  age 
86  years  and  4  mos." 

The  writer  has  related  the  principal  facts  connected  with  his 
life,  not  to  distinguish  him  as  a  remarkable  man, — that  the  reader 
can  judge  for  himself, — but  in  reading  of  him  one  learns  of  the 
conditions  which  were  to  be  met  with  in  the  beginning  of  the 
settlement  of  the  State  of  Vermont.  General  Wait  never  cared 
for  fame.— E.  D.  C. 

Lois  Gilbert,  h.  at  Brookfield,  Mass.,  March  8,  1748;  m.  at 
Brookfield,  Mass.,  Jan.  11,  1767,  Benjamin  Wait;  d.  at  Waits- 
field,  Vt.,  April  3,  1804.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Capt.  Thomas 
and  Martha  [Barnes]  Gilbert,  whose  farm  of  four  hundred  acres 
was  in  Brookfield,  where  he  was  prominent  in  the  church  and 
town  (he  held  public  office);  grand-dau.  of  Thomas  Gilbert,  who 
m.  Dec.  2,  1718,  Judith  Goss,  dau.  of  Philip  and  Judith  pSayward] 
Goss  of  Lancaster;  great-grand-dau.  of  John  Hay  ward  of  Concord, 
Mass.,  who  m.  June  2,  1671,  Anna  White,  dau.  of  Resolved  White, 
who  m.  April  8,  1640,  Judith,  dau.  of  Capt.  William  Vassall,  one 
.  of  the  assistants  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  at  Salem, 
Mass.  Resolved  White  came  in  the  Mayflower.  He  was  6  yrs. 
old,  and  was  son  of  Mr.  William  ^  White,  who  came  in  the  May- 
flower, signed  the  compact,  and  died  in  Plymouth,  Mass.,  Feb. 
21,  1621;  his.  wid  Susanna  m.  second  Gov.  Edward  Winslow. 
She  was  the  mother  of  Peregrine  White,  the  first  white  child 
born  in  this  country,  and  of  Gov.  Josiah  Winslow,  the  first  gov- 
ernor born  in  Plymouth  Colony.  (See  Temple's  North  Brookfield 
and  Potter's  Old  Concord  Families.) 

John  6  Wait,  b.  at  Windsor,  Vt.,  Dec.  29,  1767-8;    m.  at 

the  eldest  son  of  Gen.  Benjamin  Wait; 

Winchester,  N.H.,  Jan.  7,  1791,  Eunice  Lawrence.     John 
Wait  lived  in  Windsor,  Vt.     He  was  a  farmer;   witnesses  a 


30 

deed  for  his  father  on  Jan.  29,  1799.  He  d,  at  Windsor, 
Dec.  25,  1799,  age  31;  his  wid.  m.  in  1800  Solomon  Ware  of 
Niagara  Falls,  N.Y.  John  Wait  was  the  father  of  Eunice 
Wait,  who  m.  Rev.  John  Taylor,  and  Sarah  Gilbert  Wait; 
also  sons  John  and  Joseph,  who  settled  in  Ohio.  A  public 
record  speaks  of  him  as  "the  son  of  Gen.  Benj.  Wait,  a 
man  of  honorable  character;  public-spirited,  he  gave  much 
attention  to  schools,"  etc. 

Sarah  Gilbert  ^  Wait,  6.  at  Windsor,  Vt.,  Jan.  4,  1793; 
m.  at  Waitsfield,  Vt.,  March  9,  1815,  William  ^  Davis  of 
Woodstock,  Vt. 

She  was  the  grandmother  of  the  compiler  of  these  records,  and 
it  is  to  her  that  the  writer  is  indebted  for  information  relating  to 
her  parents  and  grandparents. 

Sarah  Gilbert  Wait,  after  her  father's  death  in  1799, 
became  an  inmate  in  the  home  of  the  grandfather,  Gen. 
Benjamin  Wait,  and  she  kept  in  constant  touch  with  him 
until  his  death  in  1822.  She  had  a  great  admiration  for 
his  character,  and  frequently  spoke  of  him  as  "a  wonderful 
man."  He  evidently  told  her  a  great  deal  relating  to  his 
military  service,  for  her  memory  was  filled  with  incidents 
connected  with  this  remarkable  career. 

Sarah  [Wait]  Davis  was  an  unusually  interesting  woman. 
She  was  petite  in  figure,  erect,  with  charming  manners. 
She  spoke  intelligently,  and  with  ease,  on  a  variety  of  sub- 
jects; was  interested  in  the  world  of  affairs.  She  was  dainty 
and  fastidious  to  a  great  degree.  She  had  received  un- 
usual advantages  from  the  years  she  lived  with  her  grand- 
father. Gen.  Wait.  She  met  the  foremost  men  in  the  State. 
She  had  seen  Gen.  Washington  and  Lafayette.  She  was  vi- 
tally interesting.  To  the  writer  she  was  a  grandmother  who 
was  most  helpful  in  many  ways,  and  will  always  be  held 
in  her  memory  with  admiration  for  her  character  and  with 
tender  reverence.  Sarah  [Wait]  Davis  d.  Oct.  22,  1880. 
She  was  the  mother  of  Almon  Hemenway  Davis,  who  m. 
Elizabeth  Everett. 


31 


Lawrence. 

The  Lawrence  family,  in  New  England,  claim  to  be  related  to 
the  George  Washington  family  in  England.  This  is  probably 
correct,  as  the  Christian  Register,  cautious  in  its  statements,  in- 
dorses it  as  a  fact. 

John  ^  Lawrence  was  first  at  Watertown,  Mass.,  where  he 
was  freeman  1637,  afterwards  at  Groton,  Mass.,  where  he 

was  a  leading  citizen;    m.  in  England  Elizabeth  ,  by 

whom  he  had  eleven  children;  she  d.  at  Groton,  Aug.  29, 
1663;  m.  second  Susanna  Batchelder.  By  her  he  had  two 
daughters.  John  Lawrence  d.  at  Groton,  July  11,  1667; 
wid.  Susanna  d.  July  8,  1668.  From  his  will:  "to  the  town 
of  Groton  I  give  £100;  to  ye  Church  of  Christ  in  Groton 
I  give  £40  to  be  laid  out  for  ye  procuring  of  some  silver 
vessel  or  vessels  for  ye  churches  use  as  ye  shall  order;  also 
£20  ye  income  to  be  annually  paid  or  accounted  for  ye 
settled  or  ordained  minister."  Another  clause  relating  to 
his  children:  "I  will  that  after  my  lawful  debts  and  en- 
gagements are  paid  ye  residue  to  be  disposed  to  every  of 
my  children  born  to  me  by  my  former  wife  to  each  and  every 
one  of  you  in  equal  portions." 

Will  has  his  autograph  signature. 

Sons  Joseph  and  Nathaniel  executors. 

NathanieP  Lawrence,  b.  Aug.  15,  1639,  at  Watertown; 
m.  March  13,  1660-1,  Sarah  Moss,  b.  at  Sudbury,  Mass., 
Sept.  16,  1643, 

grand-dau.  of  Samuel  ^  Morse,  propr.  at  Dedham,  Mass.,  1638; 
town  oflScer;  d.  in  Medfield,  Mass.,  1654;  mentions  in  will  wife 
Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Hannah,  wid.  of  son  John. 

John  2  Morse  m.  Hannah  Phillips,  dau.  of  Ensign  Henry  Phillips 
of  Dedham,  who  d.  in  Boston,  "leaving  a  good  estate  and  a  fine 
character." 

Dea.  Nathaniel  Lawrence  buried  his  first  wife  in  Groton, 
1684;  m.  second  Hannah ,  who  witnessed  a  deed  1701, 


32 

d.  afterwards.  He  was  made  freeman  May  15,  1672;  a 
deacon;  much  employed  in  town  business;  a  representa- 
tive of  Groton.  In  advanced  life  he  lived  at  Charlestown 
Farms,  where  he  d.  April  14,  1724.  Will  prob.  May  8, 
1724,  mentions  son  John. 

John  3  Lawrence,  b.  at  Groton,  July  29,  1667;  m.  at 
Groton,  Nov.  9,  1687,  Anna  Tarbell,  b.  at  Groton,  June  10, 
1670. 

She  was  grand-dau.  of  Thomas  ^  Tarbell  of  Watertown,  to  whom 
was  granted  with  four  persons,  in  1665,  20  acres  of  land  for  erect- 
ing a  mill,  to  be  exempt  from  taxation  for  20  years  [Butler,  p.  36], 
and  dau.  of  John  ^  and  [Anna  Longley]  Tarbell. 

John  Lawrence  was  a  farmer  and  blacksmith. 

He  was  the  ancestor  of  Amos  and  Abbott  Lawrence,  the  dis- 
tinguished merchants  and  philanthropists,  for  whom  the  city  of 
Lawrence  was  named. 

He  removed  from  Groton  to  Cambridge  Farms  [Lexington] 
1698-9.  His  wife  Anna  d.  Dec.  19,  1732;  he  d.  March 
12,  1746-7.  From  his  estate  his  sons  John,  WilHam, 
Benjamin,  and  Amos  received  £120  each.  His  son  Amos 
m.  Abigail  Abbott;  son  Jonathan  Lawrence  was  made 
sole  executor  of  the  will,  receiving,  besides  money,  "the 
land  in  the  township  of  Townsend." 

Jonathan  ^  Lawrence,  b.  Feb.  24,  1705-6,  at  Cambridge 
Farms;  m.  Feb.  22,  1726-7,  Elizabeth  Swain,  6.  1707. 

She  was  descended  from  William  Swain,  representative  of 
Watertown  1635-36;  appointed  by  the  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts Colony,  March  3,  1635-6,  with  Andrew  Ward,  both  of 
Watertown,  as  the  two  commissioners  to  govern  the  people  of 
Connecticut. 

Jonathan  Lawrence  settled  first  in  Sudbury,  afterwards  in 
Framingham,  where  he  was  residing  in  1736.  In  this  year 
his  father  John  Lawrence  executed  a  deed  in  favor  of  him. 
Soon  after  this  he  returned  to  Lexington.  "Dec.  28,  1761, 
an  order  was  passed  [in  town  meeting]  to  pay  Jonathan 


33 

Lawrence  £2.  135.,  4cZ.  for  his  wifes  keeping  one  of  the 
womens  schools."  He  d.  March  19,  1773;  his  wid.  d,  July 
4,  1790. 

The  following  is  a  clause  in  his  will:  "I  give  my  negroes 
among  all  my  children,  to  be  settled  among  them  as  they 
shall  agree,  as  soon  as  may  be  after  my  discease." 

Micah  5  Lawrence,  h,  March  15,  1738-9;  m.  at  Win- 
chester, N.H.,  1765,  Eunice  Willard,  dau.  of  Col.  Josiah 
Willard.  She  d.  at  Keene,  N.H.,  Oct.  20,  1788,  age  44 
years. 

Micah  Lawrence  was  grad.  Harv.  Coll.  1759;  taught 
school  in  Worcester;  ordained  at  Winchester,  N.H.,  Nov. 
4,  1764,  as  successor  of  Rev.  Thomas  Ashley  [the  first 
minister].  He  had  trouble  with  his  people,  who  thought 
him  "unfriendly  to  the  war";  after  a  third  council  he  was 
dismissed.  After  1777  he  preached  in  different  places. 
He  d.  in  Keene,  N.H.,  Oct.  20,  1798,  age  60  years. 

Eunice  ^  Lawrence,  6.  at  Winchester,  N.H.,  July  22,  1767; 
m.  at  Winchester,  Jan.  7,  1791,  John  ^  Wait;  m.  second, 
1800,  Solomon  Ware  of  Niagara  Falls,  N.Y.  She  was  the 
mother  of  Sarah  [Wait]  Davis,  wife  of  William  ^  Davis. 

My  grandmother,  Mrs.  William  Davis,  remembered  having 
seen  her  grandfather,  Rev.  Micah  Lawrence.  She  always  spoke 
with  much  feeling  when  referring  to  the  treatment  her  grand- 
father received  from  this  church  in  Winchester.  And  she  was 
probably  correct  in  saying,  ''He  was  loyal,'*  for  no  public  record  or 
church  record  has  been  found  that  would  discredit  her  statement. 
She  received  this  impression  from  her  grandfather.  Gen.  Wait,  who 
certainly  was  capable  of  forming  a  correct  estimate  of  loyalty,  or 
disloyalty,  in  another  in  the  days  of  the  American  Revolution. 


84 


WiLLARD. 


The  Willard  Memoir  [Joseph  Willard],  Soldiers  in  King 
Philip's  War  [George  M.  Bodge],  History  of  Cambridge 
[Paige],  History  of  Concord  [Shattuck],  History  of  Groton 
[Butler],  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical 
Register,  all  give  interesting  accounts  of  Major  Simon 
Willard,  one  of  the  finest  types  of  a  Puritan,  living  in 
New  England  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century 
[1634-76]. 

Simon  ^  Willard  was  b.  at  Horsmonden,  County  Kent, 
England;  bap.  April  17,  1605.  He  was  the  son  of  Richard 
Willard  by  wife  Margery,  and  brother  of  Margery  [Willard] 
Davis,  who  married,  in  England,  Dolar  Davis.  The 
family  name  in  England  is  very  old.  It  may  be  found 
in  the  Domesday  Book. 

Simon  Willard  m.,  in  England,  Mary,  dau.  of  Henry 
and  Jane  [Ffielde]  Sharpe,  who  was  the  mother  of  nine 
children.  She  was  b.  at  Horsmonden;  bap.  Oct.  16,  1614; 
she  d.  at  Newtowne  [Cambridge].  He  m.  second  Elizabeth 
Dunster,  who  d.  in  six  months;  m.  third  Mary  Dunster, 
sister  of  Henry  Dunster,  first  president  of  Harvard  College. 
He  mentions  in  his  will  "my  sister  Willard,  and  all  her 
children."  Mary  [Dunster]  Willard  was  living  when  her 
brother  Henry's  will  was  probated.  She  was  the  mother 
of  eight  children,  by  Willard,  born  between  1649-66.  She 
m.  second,  July  14,  1680,  Dea.  John  Noyes  of  Sudbury, 
Mass.,  and  d.  in  that  town,  Dec,  1715. 

Simon  Willard  was  living  in  Cambridge  [New  Town] 
1634.  His  house  was  on  the  south-east  corner  of  what  is 
now  Winthrop  and  Dunster  Streets.  He  moved  to  Con- 
cord in  1635. 

In  the  summer  of  1635  Rev.  Peter  Bulkeley,  "a  man  of 
great  learning,  of  large  heart,  of  noble  family,  possessed  of 
wealth,  and  distinguished  as  a  divine,  arrived  in  Cambridge, 
and  to  him  Willard  attached  himself  with  affectionate  re- 
gard."    This  alliance  with  Bulkeley  shows  that  Willard  had 


36 

no  disposition  to  follow  the  Hooker  congregation  to  Hart- 
ford, and  that  his  mind  was  so  constructed  as  not  to  be- 
come a  recipient  of  those  somewhat  mystical  dogmas  which 
became  rife  the  following  year  in  the  Antinomian  contro- 
versy. 

In  describing  this  emigration  from  Cambridge  to  Con- 
cord in  1635,  Johnson  in  his  Wonder  Working  Providence 
[second  edition,  p.  5]  says,  "The  band  of  Concord  is  led  by 
Capt.  Simon  Willard,  being  a  Kentish  souldier." 

Again  quoting  from  Johnson: — 

"0/  the  laborious  worke  Christs  people  have  in  planting 
this  wildernesse  set  forth  in  the  building  of  the  Towne  of  Con- 
cord being  the  first  inland  Towne. 

.  .  .  "Upon  some  enquiry  of  the  Indians  who  lived  to 
the  North-west  of  the  Bay,  one  Captaine  Simon  Willard 
being  acquainted  with  them  by  way  of  Trade  became  a 
chiefe  instrument  in  erecting  this  Town,  the  land  they  pur- 
chase of  the  Indians,  and  with  much  difficulties  travelling 
through  unknowne  woods  and  watery  scrampes  [swampes] 
they  discover  the  fitnesse  of  the  place,  sometimes  passing 
through  Thickets,  where  their  hands  are  forced  to  make 
way  for  their  bodies  passage,  and  their  feet  clambering  over 
crossed  Trees,  which  when  they  missed  they  sunke  into  an 
uncertaine  bottome  in  water,  they  wade  up  to  the  knees, 
tumbling  sometimes  higher,  sometimes  lower,  wearied  with 
this  toile  they  at  the  end  meete  with  a  scorching  plaine;  .  .  . 
lying  in  the  open  air,  while  the  watery  clouds  poure  down 
all  the  night  season,  and  sometimes  the  driving  snow  disolv- 
ing  on  their  backs,  they  keep  their  wet  cloathes  warme  with 
a  continued  fire,  till  the  renewed  morning  give  fresh  oppor- 
tunity of  further  travell;  after  they  have  thus  found  out 
a  place  of  abode,  they  burrow  themselves  into  the  earth  for 
their  first  shelter."     (Ibid.,  pp.  112-113.) 

And  thus  was  established  by  Rev.  Peter  Bulkeley  and 
Major  Simon  Willard  "the  first  inland  Towne." 

Johnson,  an  Englishman,  was  contemporary  with  these  times. 
He  was  in  this  country,  and  his  descriptions  are  from  personal 
observations. 


86 

"A  beautifully  rounded  little  eminence,  following  the 
triangle  made  by  the  junction  of  Sudbury  and  Assabet 
Rivers  with  the  woodlands,  meadows,  and  arable  land 
attached  to  it,  made  a  tract  of  about  four  hundred  acres, 
bounded  chiefly  by  the  two  branches  of  the  Concord  River; 
in  the  second  division  of  the  lands,  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  years  ago,  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  Major  Simon  Willard.'* 
(Rev.  Grindall  Reynolds,  D.D.) 

The  infant  town  of  Concord  probably  owed  more  to 
Major  Willard  than  to  any  other  single  person.  He  was 
its  chief  selectman;  for  eighteen  years  he  was  its  clerk;  for 
fifteen  years  its  deputy  to  the  General  Court.  From  the 
beginning  he  was  the  military  commander,  and  with  two 
others  made  the  legal  tribunal  before  which  all  cases,  be- 
tween man  and  man,  of  small  importance  were  tried.  He 
was  possibly  the  most  influential  man  in  the  county.  All 
through  his  later  life  he  held  the  office  of  assistant.  In 
Massachusetts,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  an  assistant  was 
a  person  with  high  and  varied  duties.  In  the  General  Court 
he  was  a  senator.  To  the  Governor  he  was  a  councillor. 
In  the  administration  of  law  he  was  a  member  of  the  only 
Supreme  Judicial  Court  of  the  period.  To  all  these  honors 
and  labors  Simon  Willard  was  called  for  twenty-two  suc- 
cessive years,  and  just  as  he  died  received  the  largest  vote 
given  for  any  one  for  his  twenty-third  term.  In  1641  to 
him  and  two  others  was  given  the  whole  charge  of  trade  with 
the  Indians.  In  1655  he  was  promoted  to  the  command 
of  all  the  military  force  of  Middlesex  County.  He  settled 
innumerable  cases  of  boundaries  of  land,  and  in  one  case 
that  of  the  bounds  between  Massachusetts  and  New  Hamp- 
shire. 

In  July,  1658,  the  selectmen  of  Lancaster,  feeling  the 
need  of  a  ruling  mind,  thought  "meet  to  order  a  letter  of 
invitation  to  be  sent  to  Major  Simon  Willard  to  come  and 
inhabit  among  us."  A  similar  invitation  in  a  previous 
year  had  been  declined.  But  eight  months  before  this  last 
call  Mr.  Bulkeley  had  died:  this  may  have  weakened  his 
affection  for  Concord.     He  accepted  the  invitation,  and  sold 


37 

his  farm.  For  twelve  years  he  was  the  controUing  mind  in 
Lancaster.  Then  he  moved  to  Groton,  where  his  son  was 
minister.  There  King  PhiHp's  War  found  him.  At  seventy, 
with  all  the  fire  and  vigor  of  youth,  he  took  command  of  the 
Middlesex  soldiers.  He  it  was  who,  with  his  troopers  and 
friendly  Indians,  rescued  Capt.  Thomas  Wheeler  and 
Lieut.  Simon  Davis,  in  their  last  extremity,  at  Brookfield. 
March  14,  1676,  while  absent  from  home,  his  house  at 
Groton,  with  sixty-five  others,  was  burned.  One  month 
later  he  died  in  his  new  home  at  Charlestown.  "He  was  a 
noble  specimen  of  a  noble  race.  Weighty  in  judgment, 
versatile,  trusty,  of  kindly  temper,  of  indomitable  industry, 
he  filled  well  almost  every  conceivable  post." 

Major  Simon  Willard  d.  April  24,  1676.  His  funeral 
was  one  of  great  pomp:  it  was  on  Thursday,  the  27th 
of  April.  There  was  a  military  escort  "of  several  hundred 
soldiers,  consisting  of  three  companies  of  foot,  under  the 
command  of  Captains  Still,  Cutler,  and  Holbrook;  and 
three  companies  of  horse,  under  command  of  Captains 
Brattle,  Prentice,  and  Henchman,  the  last  being  commander 
of  the  whole."     (Willard  Memoir.) 


Henry  2  Willard, 

by  wife  Mary  Dunster, 

h.  at  Concord,  June  4,  1655;  m.  first,  July  18,  1675,  Mary 
Lakin, 

dau.  of  William  Lakin  of  Groton. 

She  d.  1688.  He  m.  second,  1689,  Dorcas  Cutler,  who  sur- 
vived her  husband  and  became  the  wife  of  Benjamin  Bel- 
lows of  Lancaster. 

Henry  Willard  had  a  large  estate.  At  one  time  he  occu- 
pied one  of  the  garrison  houses  in  Lancaster.  He  d,  Aug. 
27,  1701. 

His  children,  some  of  whom  were  men  of  note,  speak  well  for  the 
character  of  Henry  Willard. 


38 

Josiah^  Willard,  b.  at  Lancaster,  1693;  m.,  1715,  Hannah 
Wilder. 

She  was  b.  1690,  the  grand-dau.  of  Thomas  ^  Wilder,  b.  in  England, 
who  m.  at  Charlestown,  1640,  Anna  Eames;  removed  to  Lancaster, 
July  1,  1659;  "a  leading  citizen  and  public  officer  until  his  death, 

Oct.  23,  1667."    John  ^  Wilder  m.  Hannah ,  was  a  farmer  in 

Lancaster,  and  father  of  Hannah  [Wilder]  Willard. 

Col.  Josiah  Willard  was  the  commander  of  Fort  Dummer 
[Brattleboro,  Vt.].  He  was  one  of  the  settlers  and  principal 
oflScers  in  Lunenburg,  Mass.  He  died  on  a  journey  from 
home,  Dec.  8,  1750.  "He  was  the  grandson  of  the  re- 
nowned Major  Simon  Willard;  and  was  a  gentleman  of 
superior  natural  powers.  .  .  .  His  death  is  a  great  loss  to 
the  public,  considering  his  usefulness  in  many  respects, 
particularly  on  the  western  frontiers."  The  Secretary  of 
State  wrote  to  the  son  Josiah^  Willard,  "I  heartily  join 
with  you  and  your  family,  in  the  mourning  for  the  death 
of  your  father,  esteeming  it  a  great  public  loss."  .  .  .  (Willard 
Memoirs.)  His  wid.  Hannah  [Wilder]  Willard  was  living  in 
1751. 


Josiah^  Willard,  6.  at  Lunenburg,  Mass.,  Jan.  21,  1715; 
bap.  at  Lancaster,  Aug.  6,  1721;  m.  at  Groton,  Nov.  23, 
1732,   Hannah   Hubbard. 

Mr.  Willard  passed  many  years  of  his  life  on  the  frontiers. 
He  succeeded  his  father  in  command  at  Fort  Dummer, 
and  was  made  lieutenant-colonel.  Afterwards  he  was  made 
colonel.  He  was  in  active  service  in  the  lines  in  the  cam- 
paign of  1755,  and  was  stationed  with  his  regiment  at  Fort 
Edward  in  the  same  year.  His  father  was  one  of  the 
grantees  of  Winchester  from  Massachusetts  in  1733.  A 
church  was  organized  in   1736,   and  Rev.  Joseph  Ashley, 

a  grad.  Yale  Coll., 

was  ordained  as  minister;  but  the  church  was  broken  up 
and  the  town  deserted  of  inhabitants  on  account  of  the 
Indian  Wars. 


89 

But  it  was  reorganized  under  a  charter  obtained  by  the 
son  Col.  Josiah  Willard  and  his  brothers  in  1753.  A  new 
boundary  line  had  been  established,  placing  the  town  in 
the  jurisdiction  of  New  Hampshire.  Col.  Willard  became 
the  most  important  man  in  the  town,  holding  all  the  offices 
of  any  trust  or  importance.  In  1771  he  was  chosen  the 
first  representative  of  the  town  in  the  New  Hampshire 
Legislature.  He  d.  Nov.  19,  1786;  his  wid.  Hannah 
[Hubbard]  Willard  d.  Aug.  15,  1791. 

Eunice^  Willard,  h.  at  Winchester,  March,  1745;  m.,  1765, 
Rev.  Micah  Lawrence,  who  was  the  next  minister  of  Win- 
chester after  Rev.  Joseph  Ashley.  Their  dau.  Eunice 
Lawrence  m.  John  ®  Wait;  and  they  were  the  parents  of 
Sarah  Gilbert  [Wait]  Davis,  the  wife  of  William^  Davis. 


Hubbard. 

George  1  Hubbard  was  first  in  Watertown,  Mass.,  about 
1633;  m.  Mary  Bishop,  who  d.  at  Guilford,  Conn.,  Sept.  14, 
1675. 

She  was  dau.  of  John  and  Ann  Bishop,  who  moved  to  Guilford 
in  1639,  where  he,  Bishop,  was  one  of  the  seven  prop,  of  the 
town,  and  d.  there,  February,  1661. 

On  May  6,  1635,  permission  from  the  General  Court  of 
Massachusetts  was  granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  Water- 
town  "to  remove  themselves  to  any  place  they  shall  think 
meete  to  make  choice  of,  provided  they  still  continue  under 
the  government."  Among  these  immigrators  was  George 
Hubbard  and  family  and  his  father-in-law,  John  Bishop 
and  family.  George  Hubbard  was  the  representative  of 
Wethersfield,  Conn.,  at  the  first  Colonial  General  Court, 
under  the  Constitution  of  1639.  He  went  from  Wethersfield 
and  settled  at  Milford  on  Long  Island,  "being  assigned 
Milford  Island  as  his  grant.  He  was  one  of  those  persons 
whose  names  are  hereunto  written — who  are  allowed  to 
be  free  planters,  having  for  the  present,  liberty  to  act 
in  the  choice  of  public  oflacers  for  the  carrying  on  of  public 


40 

affayres  in  this  plantation.  Mr.  George  Hubbard  came  from 
Wethersfield." 

Before  1650  he  sold  Milford  Island  to  Richard  Bryan,  and 
moved  with  his  son-in-law  John  Fowler  to  Guilford,  where  his 
wife's  parents,  John  and  Ann  Bishop,  had  become  residents. 

George  Hubbard  was  admitted  to  church  membership 
in  Guilford,  Oct.  6,  1650.  During  years  1652-55-57-58- 
60-62-65-66-67  he  was  deputy  magistrate.  In  1666-67 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly  at  the  union  of  the  Hart- 
ford and  New  Haven  Colonies.  In  May,  1670,  the  Court 
invested  him  with  authority  to  "  joyne  persons  in  marriage." 
"He  was  a  person  of  high  standing  and  prominent  in  the 
politics  of  his  times."     He  d.  in  Guilford,  Conn.,  1683. 

The  above  facts  are  taken  from  a  manuscript  in  the  town 
clerk's  office  in  Guilford,  Conn. 

George  2  Hubbard,  h.  in  England,  1630;  m.,  before  1650, 
Mary  Merriam. 

Supposed  to  be  the  sister  of  Robert  Merriam  of  Concord,  Mass. 

After  his  father's  removal  to  Guilford,  he  removed  and 
settled  in  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  where  four  children  were 
born.  On  the  18th  of  April,  1658,  he  was  one  of  the  signers 
of  the  engagement  "to  remove  themselves  and  their 
families  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  Connecticut,  into  the 
jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,"  and  who  went  and  planted 
Hadley.  He  removed  afterward  to  Hatfield,  and  died  there 
in  1705. 

Jonathan^  Hubbard,  h.  at  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  Jan.  3, 
1658-9;  m.  at  Marlborough,  Mass.,  Jan.  15,  1681,  Hannah 
Rice,  dau.  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  [King]  Rice  of  Marl- 
borough and  grand-dau.  of  Edmund  and  Tamezin  Rice. 

Edmund  ^  Rice  was  proprietor  and  selectman  in  Sudbury,  1639; 
freeman  May  13,  1642;  deputy  1643;  1656  removed  to  Marl- 
borough; son  Samuel  was  one  of  the  petitioners  for  church  privi- 
leges there;  wife  Tamezin  d.  June  13,  1654;  he  m.  second,  March 
1,  1655,  Mercy  Brigham;   he  d.  May,  1663. 


41 

Jonathan  Hubbard  went  to  Concord,  Mass.,  as  early  as 
1680  to  live  with  "his  uncle  Robert  Merriam,  one  of  the 
prominent  men  of  Concord,  whose  estate  the  nephew 
Jonathan  Hubbard  inherited."  He  died  in  Concord, 
July  17,  1720,  aged  70;  his  wid.  Hannah  d,  April  9,  1741, 
aged  89  [gravestones]. 

Jonathan*  Hubbard,  h.  at  Concord,  June  18,  1683;  m. 
by  "James  Bond  Esq.,  of  Watertown,"  Sept.  26,  1704, 
Rebecca  Brown,  h.  at  Concord,  March  5,  1683-4,  dau.  of 
Ensign  Thomas  and  Ruth  [Jones]  Brown. 

Ensign  Thomas  Brown  was  son  of  Boaz  ^  and  Mary  [Winship] 
Brown;  Mary  Winship  was  dau.  of  Edward  Winship  of  Cambridge, 
Mass.,  selectman  fourteen  years,  and  representative  eight  years. 

The  mother  of  Rebecca  [Brown]  Hubbard  was  Ruth  [Jones] 
Brown,  wid.  of  Ephraim  Jones  of  Concord  and  dau.  of  Capt. 
Thomas  Wheeler,  who  was  wounded  in  the  "swamp  fight"  at 
Brookfield  in  King  Philip's  War,  rescued  by  Major  Simon  Willard 
and  his  troopers. 

Jonathan  Hubbard,  Jr.,  Hved  first  in  Groton,  where  four 
of  his  children  were  born;  removed  to  Townsend,  Mass., 
where  he  was  selectman  1748-52.  He  was  major,  deacon, 
town  treasurer,  and  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of 
Rindge,  N.H.  Lived  also  in  Lunenburg.  His  wife  Rebecca 
d.  at  Townsend,  April  2,  1754.  Major  Hubbard  d,  April  7, 
1761,  aged  76  [gravestones]. 

Hannah  5  Hubbard,  6.  1712;  m.  Nov.  23,  1732,  Col. 
Josiah  *  Willard,  whose  dau.  Eunice  ^  Willard  m.,  1765,  Rev. 
Micah  ^  Lawrence  of  Winchester,  N.H. 


42 


Everett. 

"Friday. 

"3/2/  dear  Cousin, — I  am  quite  sure  that  I  saw  on  your 
lawn  that  magnificent  Clematis  paniculata  which  I  have 
just  now  ordered  of  Farquhar. 

^'But  did  I  not  also  see  two  or  three  good  autumn  shrubs 
of  the  kind  that  make  no  vain  glory?  And,  if  I  did,  what 
are  they.^^ 

"Love  from  all  to  all, 

"Yours  ever,  , 

"Edward  E.  Hale. 

"The  Everett  Genealogy  has  come! 

"Wunderbar!" 

This  letter  is  introduced  because  of  its  connection  with 
the  Everett  Genealogy,  which  was  presumably  compiled  by 
the  late  Edward  F.  Everett,  although  it  was  printed  some 
months  after  his  decease,  and  was  completed  by  persons 
incapable  of  arranging,  with  accuracy,  the  records  he  left. 

In  this  book  my  gr.-gr.-grandfather  is  made  to  appear  under 
the  name  of  Samuel  ^  Everett.  There  was  never  a  Samuel  in  our 
line  of  ancestors.  The  record  should  have  read:  Ebenezer^ 
Everett,  h.  1734,  d.  1808;  Isaac «  Everett,  h.  1757,  d.  1801  [his 
wid.  Elizabeth  [Tower]  Everett  d.  1842,  age  86];  JoeP  Everett, 
h.  1789,  d.  1855;  Elizabeth »  Everett,  h.  1816,  d.  1904;  she  m., 
1844,  Almon  Hemenway  Davis,  who  made  a  record,  now  in  my 
possession,  in  1844,  of  our  line  of  Everett  ancestors.  From  a 
close  examination  of  the  dates  of  births  and  deaths  given  above,  it 
will  appear  how  easily  this  was  done;  for  he  conversed  with  'parties 
to  the  Everett  Genealogy  whose  memories  covered  all  these  dates.  Mr. 
Davis  was  my  father. 

The  late  Dr.  C.  C.  Everett,  Dean  of  the  Divinity  School 
at  Harvard  University,  Dr.  Hale,  and  myself  frequently 
talked  of  our  ancestor  Richard  ^  Everett,  and  questioned 
as  to  his  birthplace  in  England.     Dr.  Everett  believed  that 


43 

he  was  born  at  Dedham,  England,  which  opinion  has  been 
adopted  in  the  Everett  Genealogy. 

The  first  positive  record  we  have  of  Richard  Everett 
is  at  Agawam,  now  Springfield,  on  July  15,  1636,  when  he 
witnessed  a  deed  from  the  Indians  transferring  land  to 
William  Pynchon  and  others.  He  is  described  in  the  History 
of  Springfield  as  "Mr.  Pynchons  trader"  {Mason  A.  Green, 
p.  24). 

On  Aug.  18,  1636,  he  is  at  Watertown,  and  attended  the 
first  recorded  meeting  of  the  proprietors  of  the  new  town, 
called  Contentment,  name  afterwards  changed  to  Dedham. 
His  name  was  then  spelled,  and  for  several  years  after, 
Richard  "Euered." 

Richard  Everett  m.  first  Mary ,  no  record  of  birth, 

parentage,  or  death.  He  m.  second,  June  29,  1643,  Mary 
Winch,  who  came  in  the  ship  Francis  to  Ipswich,  April, 
1638,  age  15,  a  member  of  the  family  of  Rowland  Stebbins. 

The  Town  Records  of  Dedham  give  a  complete  descrip- 
tion of  the  town  offices  held  by  him,  together  with  his 
church  membership,  the  christening  of  his  children,  the 
amount  of  his  yearly  taxes,  together  with  the  date  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  on  July  3,  1682;  inventory  of  estate, 
£277  155.  lid.     Wife  Mary  lived  for  several  years  after. 

John  2  Everett,  bap.  "15  d.  1  mo.  1642,"  at  Dedham;  w. 
at  Roxbury,  May  13,  1662,  EHzabeth  Pepper,  6.  at  Roxbury 
May  25,  1645. 

Elizabeth  Pepper  was  dau.  of  Robert  Pepper,  freeman  May 
10,  1643,  d.  at  Framingham,  Jan.  5,  1684;  mentions  in  his 
will  daughters  Elizabeth  and  Mary  Everett  of  Dedham.  The 
mother  of  Elizabeth  [Pepper]  Everett  was  Elizabeth  John- 
son, dau.  of  John  Johnson,  chosen  by  the  General  Court,  Oct. 
19,  1630,  constable  at  Roxbury,  and  "surveyor  of  all  the  arms 
in  the  Colony."  "A  very  industrious  and  faithful  man  in  his 
place"  (Winthrop).  "His  house  was  burned  2  [6]  1645,  with 
17  bbls.  of  the  country's  powder  and  many  arms"  (Winthrop). 
He  was  town  officer  and  deputy;  d.  at  Roxbury,  July  30, 
1659.  His  daughter,  Elizabeth  [Johnson]  Pepper,  d.  Jan.  5, 
1683. 


44 

Capt.  John  Everett  was  in  active  service  in  King  Will- 
iam's War;  stationed  at  Portsmouth  and  elsewhere  in 
Maine  and  New  Hampshire. 

See  New  Hampshire  Provincial  Papers  and  Massachusetts  Mili- 
tary Archives. 

He  was  fence-viewer  in  Dedham  eleven  years;  constable 
four  years;   surveyor  of  highways  and  tithingman  1700. 

His  wife  Elizabeth  d.  at  Dedham,  April  1,  1714;  Capt. 
John  Everett  d.  at  Dedham,  June  17,  1715. 

Will  proved  July  7, 1715:  "To  my  granddaughter,  Hannah 
Crosbee  Ten  Pounds."  His  second  child,  Hannah  Everett, 
h,  1670,  m.  Simon  Crosby  of  Billerica,  son  of  Simon  and 
Rachel  [Brackett]  Crosby. 


John  3  Everett,  h,  at  Dedham,  June  9,  1676;  m.  first, 
June  3,  1699-1700,  Mercy  Browne,  who  d.  at  Dedham,  Nov. 
27,  1748,  aged  70;  m.  second,  Aug.  31,  1749,  Mrs.  Mary 
Bennett  of  Wrentham. 

Mercy  Brown  was  grand-dau.  of  Thomas  and  Bridget  Brown 
of  Concord.  He  had  200  acres  of  land  in  Sudbury,  300  acres  at 
Worcester,  house  and  land  in  Cambridge.  He  d.  probably  in  1690: 
will  probated  in  January,  1690,  mentions  son  Boaz.  Boaz  Brown, 
h.  at  Concord,  Dec.  14,  1641;  m.  Nov.  8,  1664,  Mary  Winship, 
dau.  of  Edward  Winship,  of  Cambridge,  by  wife  Jane.  They  were 
the  parents  of  Mercy  Browne.  Edward  ^  Winship  was  proprietor 
in  Cambridge  1635;  sergeant  1643;  deputy  and  town  officer.  He 
d.  Dec.  2,  1688.  Will  prob.  Oct.  1,  1689,  mentions  dau.  Mary 
Brown. 

John  Everett  was  selectman  at  Dedham,  1724-32,  nine 
years.  His  name  appears  on  a  petition  to  the  General 
Court,  1729,  for  a  new  parish  in  the  south  part  of  the 
town.  This  parish,  the  second  in  the  town,  was  established 
in  1630.  John  Everett  was  its  first  moderator.  He  was 
also  the  first  deacon  in  the  new  church,  and  was  appointed 
assessor.  His  will  prob.  April  2, 1751,  mentions  son  Ebenezer 
Everett. 


45 

Ebenezer  ^  Everett,  b.  at  Dedham,  Aug.  5, 1707;  m.  March 
9,  1734,  at  North  Andover,  Mass.,  Joanna  Stevens,  dau.  of 
Ebenezer  and  Sarah  [Sprague]  Stevens,  b.  Sept.  11,  1711, 
d.  June  21,  1791. 

Ebenezer  Everett  lived  for  several  years  at  Methuen, 
Mass.  He  was  dismissed  from  the  First  Church  in  Methuen 
to  the  Second  Church  in  Dedham,  March  22,  1742.  He 
was  chosen  deacon  of  this  Second  Church,  Nov.  30,  1760; 
selectman  1760-64.  He  d.  June  19,  1778.  His  will  prob. 
July  17,  1778,  mentions  son  Ebenezer. 

Ebenezer^  Everett,  b.  at  Dedham,  Oct.  7,  1734;  m.  at 
Dedham,  first,  Dec.  16,  1756,  Abigail  Bacon,  b.  at  Dedham, 
1738;  d.  at  Dedham,  June  12,  1789. 

Abigail  Bacon  was  descended  from  Michael  ^  Bacon,  one  of  the 
original  proprietors  of  Dedham:  "Tradition  says  he  held  the 
office  of  captain  of  a  company  of  yeomanry  in  Suffolk  County, 
England."  Her  father  was  Capt.  William  Bacon,  who  raised  a 
company  for  the  Crown  Point  expedition  in  the  French  and  Indian 
War.     He  m.  Nov.  17,  1736,  Abigail  Dean,  of  Dedham. 

Capt.  Everett  m.  second,  March  22,  1791,  at  Dedham, 
Mrs.  Abigail  [Fisher]  Kingsbury,  b.  March  8,  1736-7,  d. 
June  14,  1809. 

Ebenezer  Everett  lived  in  Dedham,  where  he  was  received 
into  the  Second  Church,  March  2,  1760.  He  was  elected 
deacon  July  13,  1778,  and  was  town  treasurer  in  1780. 
He  served  in  the  French  and  Indian  War  and  in  the  Revo- 
lution. He  was  ensign,  and  marched  on  the  alarm  of  the 
19th  of  April,  1775,  and  served  ten  days.  He  was  also  at 
Dorchester  Heights. 

*' Ebenezer  Everett — Petition  dated  Dedham,  March  21, 
1780,  signed  by  said  Everett  that  he  had  been  appointed 
Captain  of  7th  co..  Col.  WilHam  Mclntash's  [Mcintosh's] 
1st  Suffolk  Co.  regt.,  in  May,  1776;  that  he  had  been  fre- 
quently called  upon  to  raise  and  fit  men  for  the  army,  &c., 
but  that  owing  to  ill  health  he  was  no  longer  able  to  fulfill 
the  duties  of  the  office  and  asking  that  his  resignation  be 


46 

accepted;  ordered  in  Council  July  8,  1780,  that  the  resigna- 
tion be  accepted."    {Massachusetts  Soldiers  and  Sailors  in 
the  War  of  the  Revolution,  p.  424.) 
Capt.  Ebenezer  Everett  d.  at  Dedham,  Oct.  1,  1808. 

Isaac  ^  Everett,  6.  at  Dedham,  Dec.  21,  1757;    m.  May 
8,  1786,  Elizabeth  Tower  of  "Tower  Hill,"  Braintree. 

John  ^  Tower  was  h.  at  Hingham,  England,  bap.  1607:  he  was  the 
son  of  Robert  and  Dorithie  [Damon]  Tower.  The  mother,  Dorothy, 
was  buried  at  Hingham,  England,  Nov.  10,  1629;  the  father,  Robert, 
was  buried  in  the  same  place.  May  1, 1634^.  John  Cv^hing  of  Hing- 
ham, in  New  England,  made  this  record:  "1637. — John  Tower  and 
Samuel  Lincoln  came  from  Old  Hingham  and  settled  in  New  Hing- 
ham'^ [Samuel  Lincoln  was  the  ancestor  of  Abraham  Lincoln]. 

We  do  not  know  the  reasons  why  John  Tower  left  a  comfortable 
home  in  England  for  the  hardships  of  a  life  in  the  wilderness,  prob- 
ably for  the  same  reasons  which  induced  so  many  others  to  emigrate 
during  the  period  between  1630  and  16^0. 

Among  the  parishes  in  England  in  sympathy  with  the  Puritan 
movement  wa^  that  of  Hingham,  where  Robert  Peck  had  been  installed 
as  rector  a  few  years  before  John  Tower  was  born,  and  under  whose 
ministry  John  Tower  had  passed  the  whole  period  of  his  life  up  to 
the  time  of  his  emigration.  Robert  Peck  had  become  so  decided  in 
expressing  his  opinions  as  to  receive  admonition  from  his  superior. 
Bishop  Wren.  He  was  asked  to  reform  his  opinions.  Later  he 
came  under  the  censure  of  Bishop  Laud.  He  was  then  obliged  to 
retract  or  leave  the  country,  which  he  did  in  1638,  with  his  wife,  two 
children,  and  two  servants,  settling  in  Hingham,  New  England, 
where  he  was  ordained  teacher  of  the  church,  Nov.  28,  1638.  He  re- 
turned to  England  with  his  family,  October,  164^1.  Rev.  Peter  Hobart 
(grad.  Magdalen  Coll.,  England)  came  from  Hingham,  England, 
with  his  father  Edmund,  Sr.,  who  settled  in  Hingham,  New  England, 
where  the  father  was  deputy.  There  was  a  brother,  Josiah,  who 
became  a  very  prominent  and  useful  citizen  at  Hingham.  Rev.  Peter  ^ 
Hobart  was  minister  at  Hingham  for  forty-four  years.  [Rev.  Peter 
Hobart  was  one  of  the  writer's  ancestors,  as  will  appear  later.]  There 
were  several  families  that  came  from  their  English  home  at  Hingham 
and  settled  in  New  Hingham.  It  is  said  that  many  of  these  sold  out 
their  possessions  at  a  great  sacrifice.  It  does  not  appear  that  John 
Tower  made  any  sacrifice.  In  those  times  it  was  not  uncommon  for 
young  men  without  means  to  secure  their  passage  as  "servants'*  to 
some  one  who  was  able  to  pay  the  passage  money.  The  ancestors  of 
some  of  our  now  opulent  people  came  into  this  country  as  servants. 


47 

John  Tower  seems  to  have  had  means  sufficient  to  pay  his  passage 
and  to  establish  himself  after  his  arrival.  He  received  several  grants 
in  landy  and  also  land  by  purchase. 

He  was  made  freeman  March  13,  1638-9.  His  house-lot  was  a 
grant  of  three  acres,  soon  after  his  arrival,  on  Batchelor,  now  Main, 
Street.  In  16^5  he  was  one  of  seven  men  ^'to  order  the  prudential 
affairs  of  the  town."     In  conveyances  he  wa^  called  ''Planter." 

John  Tower,  when  he  settled  at  Hingham,  was  not  among  strangers. 
He  had  known  many  of  them  before  leaving  England,  the  Hobarts 
and  Lincolns  being  among  these.  On  Feb.  13,  1638-9,  he  m.  at 
Charlestown,  Mass.,  Margerett  \born  in  England],  dau.  of  Richard 
Ibrook:  she  had  two  sisters,  one  of  whom  became  the  wife  of  Capt, 
Josiah  Hobart,  and  the  other  was  the  second  wife  of  the  brother.  Rev. 
Peter  Hobart.  Margerett  died  at  Hingham,  May  15,  1700.  John 
Tower  d.  at  Hingham,  Feb.  13,  1701-2,  age  93. 

John  2  Tower,  bap.  at  Hingham,  Dec.  13,  1639;  m.  at  Hingham, 
May  1^,  1669,  Sarah  Hardin,  dau.  of  John  of  Weymouth,  1643. 
He  removed  after  1682  to  Braintree.  He  was  a  farmer.  He  d.  at 
Braintree,  Aug.  30,  1693;  his  wid.  d.  Oct.  16,  1729. 

Joseph  3  Tower,  b.  Feb.  27,  1685-6;  m.,  1709,  Ruth  Thayer,  b. 
at  Braintree,  July  17,  1689, 

dau.  of  Nathaniel  ^  Thayer  by  w.  Hannah  Hayden;  grand- 
dau.  of  Richard  ^  Thayer  by  w.  Dorothy  Pray;  great-grand-dau. 
of  Richard  ^  Thayer,  settled  in  Braintree,  freeman  164^0. 
Nathaniel  ^  Thayer  was  a  man  of  property  and  respectability. 
He  names  his  uncle,  Penn  Townsend,  judge  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Suffolk,  executor  of  his  will,  dated  May  15, 1703.  He 
was  the  ancestor  of  Col.  Sylvanus  Thayer,  ''the  father  of 
West  Point,"  who  occupied  the  homestead  of  his  grandfather 
until  his  death. 
Ruth  Thayer  Tower  d.  at  Braintree,  March  28,  1752.  Joseph 
Tower  d.  at  Braintree,  1761.     No  will. 

Joseph  *  Tower,  b.  at  Braintree,  Jan.  10,  1725;  m.  three  times: 
first,  at  Braintree,  1751,  Sarah  AdaTus,  b.  at  Braintree,  March  -4, 
1726, 

dau.  of  Samuel  ^  Adams  by  w.  Sarah  Paine;    grand-dau. 

Joseph  3  Adams  by  w.   Hannah  Bass,  dau.   of  John  and 

Ruth  [Alden]  Bass.    Ruth  ^  Alden  was  dau.  of  John  and 

Priscilla  [Mullens]  Alden,  of  the  "Mayflower"  [Mullens  was 

one  of  the  "merchant  adventurers"]',   gr. -grand-dau.  Joseph^ 

Adams  by  w.  Abigail  Baxter,  son  of  Henry  ^  Adams. 

Capt.  Joseph   Tower  lived  in  that  part  of  Braintree  afterwards 

incorporated  as  "  Tower  Hill,"  Randolph.    He  was  a  farmer.    He 

was  a  soldier  in  the  French  and  Indian  Wars,  and  was  over  fifty  years 

old  when  he  marched  as  sergeant  in  Capt.  Seth  Turner*s  Company 


48 

on  April  19,  1775.  He  was  afterwards  promoted  to  captain.  (See 
Massachusetts  Soldiers  and  Sailors  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
p.  89Jf.)  He  d.  at  Randolph,  Sept.  7,  1801;  wife,  Sarah  Adams,  d. 
1756. 

Elizabeth  Tower,  b.  at  Braintree,  Jan.  15, 1756;  m.  May  8, 1786, 
Isaac  ^  Everett;  she  d.  in  Dedham,  Oct.  16,  18Jf2. 

The  life  of  Isaac  Everett  was  one  of  hardship.  At  the 
age  of  eighteen  he  was  in  the  fight  on  Lexington  Green,  and 
was  wounded:  "Isaac  Everett,  Dedham.  Private,  Capt. 
WilHam  ElHs's  co.,  Col.  Heath's  regt.,  which  marched  on 
the  alarm  of  April  19,  1775."  {Massachusetts  Soldiers  and 
Sailors  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  p.  421.)  "Wounded 
at  the  Battle  of  Lexington,  Isaac  Everett  of  Dedham." 
(Hudson's  History  of  Lexington,  p.  212.)  The  following  is 
a  letter  from  Rev.  Edward  Everett  Hale,  D.D.: 

"Oct.  23,  1893. 

^^Dear  Cousin, — The  Lexington  grandfather  was  wounded. 
I  have  somewhere  a  copy  of  the  charge  of  the  Doctor  who 
attended  him.     If  I  can  find  it,  you  shall  see  it. 

"Yours  always, 

"E.  E.  Hale." 

Isaac  Everett  continued  with  the  army  until  the  end 
of  the  war.  He  was  at  Dorchester  Heights  [service  4  days] 
when  the  British  evacuated  Boston.  {Massachusetts  Soldiers 
and  Sailors  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  p.  429.) 

Afterwards  he  was  a  teamster  with  supplies  for  Wash- 
ington's army,  "journeying  long  distances,  and  enduring 
much  suffering  with  fortitude." 

The  writer  does  not  recall  the  name  of  any  one  of  her  ancestors 
whose  life  to  her  seems  quite  so  pathetic.  His  life  was  caught  in 
the  grip  of  the  Revolution.  At  eighteen  he  was  a  soldier,  wounded 
at  Lexington;  and  again  one  of  those  soldiers  who  made  that 
tedious  march  and  fortified  Dorchester  Heights;  and  then  those 
long  years  in  which  he  followed  Washington's  army  with  sup- 
plies, witnessing  the  suffering  from  sickness,  the  cold  and  lack  of 
food,  all  of  which  he  had  an  intimate  acquaintance  with,  and  was 


49 

a  sharer  in,  and  which  consumed  all  the  years  of  his  young  man- 
hood; waiting  for  ten  years  to  make  the  young  girl  to  whom  he 
had  been  betrothed,  now  grown  beyond  her  first  youth,  his  bride. 
Broken  in  health,  but  with  courage  facing  the  future,  he  had 
hardly  begun  to  get  hold  of  the  realities  of  a  home  life  with  its 
joy  and  its  comfort,  when  he  died,  "worn  out,"  said  his  widow, 
at  the  age  of  46,  "from  the  suffering  and  exposure  of  the  dreadful 
war."  A  beautiful  grove  in  Dedham  has  for  more  than  a  hundred 
years  been  known  as  "Everett's  Woods."  It  was  his  property 
when  living. 

Isaac  Everett  d.  Nov.  12,  1801.     Wid.  Elizabeth,  executrix. 

In  connection  with  the  military  service  of  Capt.  Ebenezer  Ev- 
erett and  his  son  Isaac  Everett,  the  writer  prints  the  following 
relating  to  Dedham : — 

"A  little  after  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  there  came  a 
horseman  down  the  Needham  road  to  bring  the  Lexington 
alarm.  The  minute  men  were  ready  and  knew  just  what 
to  do.  There  are  traditions  still  kept  of  the  plough  being 
left  in  the  furrow,  and  the  cart  upon  the  highway,  and  the 
drivers  mounting  their  horses  and  galloping  for  their  muskets 
and  accoutrements."  (From  250th  Anniversary  of  the  Town 
of  Dedham,) 

"In  all,  including  the  minute  men  and  the  militia,  three 
hundred  men  under  arms  must  have  marched  from  Dedham 
on  that  historic  day.  Nor  were  these  all.  The  gray- 
haired  veterans  of  the  French  War,  whose  blood  was  stirred 
anew  by  the  sights  and  sounds  of  war,  resolved  to  follow 
their  sons  to  the  battle.  Assembled  on  the  Common  before 
this  meeting-house,  they  met  Rev.  Mr.  Gorden,  who  had 
just  come  to  Dedham;  and  he  from  the  eastern  porch 
offered  prayer,  and  then  they  marched."     (Ibid.,  p.  78.) 

"Well  may  we  believe,  as  we  have  been  told,  that  the 
town  was  left  *  almost  literally  without  a  male  inhabitant 
below  the  age  of  seventy  and  above  the  age  of  sixteen.'" 
(Haven's  Centennial  Address,  p.  46.) 


50 

Joel  7  Everett,  b.  at  Walpole,  Mass.,  Feb.  22,  1789; 

the  only  child  born  to  Isaac  and  Elizabeth  Everett; 

m.  in  the  Episcopal  church  at  Dedham,  Nov.  30,  1811, 
Miss  Catherine  Smith.  No  couple  ever  entered  married 
life  with  seemingly  fairer  prospects.  Isaac  Everett  moved 
back  into  Dedham  soon  after  the  birth  of  his  son  Joel. 
At  twelve  years  old  this  father,  Isaac  Everett,  had  died. 
His  mother,  Elizabeth,  was  approaching  middle  life.  It 
was  considered  the  best  thing  among  the  family  relatives 
to  place  Joel  Everett  in  the  home  of  Rev.  Peter  Thacher, 
a  bachelor  minister  of  the  Clapboard  Trees  Church,  Dedham. 
He  was  a  scholar  of  repute,  who  in  addition  to  his  preaching 
had  boarders,  mostly  young  men  from  the  Southern  families, 
whom  he  prepared  for  college.  It  was  not  the  school  for 
young  Everett. 

Mr.  Thacher  had  much  contrition  of  spirit  in  later  years  that 
he  had  not  been  more  faithful  to  this  young  boy  whose  people 
had  been  his  parishioners. 

After  a  few  years  he  was  for  some  time  in  the  family  of 
his  Everett  uncles.  Rev.  and  Judge  Oliver  and  Rev.  and 
Judge  Moses  Everett,  at  Dorchester.  The  intimacy  thus 
formed  continued  in  both  families  until  his  death.  He 
met  with  a  terrible  accident  in  the  winter  of  1820,  which 
crippled  him  for  life :  he  became  a  recluse,  and  never  visited, 
excepting  with  a  few  of  his  Everett  relatives.  He  was 
very  distinguished  in  personal  appearance,  even  after  the 
accident,  a  gentleman  of  charming  address,  and  a  brilliant 
conversationalist. 

The  writer  has  always  remembered  her  grandfather  Everett 
with  great  distinctness.  She  was  with  him  often  during  the  first 
ten  years  of  her  life.  She  was  a  favorite  grandchild,  who  received 
much  instruction  from  him.  His  personality  was  strikingly  like 
that  of  his  cousin,  the  Hon.  Edward  Everett. 

His  wife  Catherine  [Smith]  Everett  d.  in  Dedham, 
Dec.  21,  1821,  leaving  three  sons  and  two  daughters.  Joel 
Everett  had  a  small  property,  which  to  the  end  of  his  life 


61 

was  sufficient  for  all  his  physical  needs.  He  built  a  house 
in  Natick,  Mass.,  where  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Rice,  lived, 
which  was  burned  without  insurance.  He  built  again  on 
the  same  site  on  North  Main  Street,  bounded  on  one  side 
by  Everett  Street.  In  this  house  he  died  on  the  morning 
of  Feb.  22,  1855,  his  66th  birthday.  The  funeral  was  in 
the  church,  the  minister  preaching  from  the  text,  "If  a 
man  die,  shall  he  live  again  .f^"  The  burial  was  in  Dell 
Park  Cemetery. 

EHzabeth  ^  Everett,  b.  at  Dedham,  Mass.,  July  31,  1816; 
m.  at  Dedham,  May  12,  1844,  Almon  ^  Hemenway  Davis 
of  Boston.  Rev.  Nathan  Rice,  who  married  Catherine 
Everett,  a  sister  of  Elizabeth,  was  the  officiating  clergy- 
man. It  was  in  the  boarding-school  of  Marshall  Rice, 
at  Newton  Centre,  a  brother  of  Nathan  Rice,  that  Mr. 
Davis  made  the  acquaintance  of  Elizabeth  Everett. 

It  is  difficult  to  write  of  one's  mother.  You  are  so  closely 
associated  with  your  mother  that  you  have  no  perspective. 
She  enters  your  first  thoughts;  in  youth  you  cling  to  her 
as  personal  comforter;  in  age  you  know  that  no  love  ever 
endures  that  is  quite  so  loving,  unselfish,  and  patient.  This 
is  the  good  mother. 

Elizabeth  [Everett]  Davis  was  of  medium  height;  she 
had  the  complexion  of  her  mother  [this  her  father  told  her] ; 
she  had  a  very  fair  skin,  with  light  brown  hair  and  blue 
eyes  [her  father's  eyes  were  called  "hazel"];  the  contour 
of  her  face  was  like  her  father;  the  same  aquiline  nose,  the 
deep-set  eye,  the  high  rounded  forehead,  the  firm-set  lips; 
a  speech  that  gave  the  impression  of  a  beautiful,  honorable 
character.  Yes,  she  was  like  her  father:  she  had  all  of 
his  reticence  with  his  geniality.  Her  father  never  spoke 
to  her  more  than  once  or  twice  of  her  mother.  She  had 
but  one  memory  of  this  mother,  and  that  of  the  morning 
before  she  died,  when,  putting  her  hand  on  the  little 
daughter's  head,  and  gently  stroking  it,  the  mother  said  to 
her,  "I  am  going  far  away,  and  after  I  am  gone  you  must 
remember  to  be  very  good."    Then  there  was  the  funeral, 


62 

with  the  long  walk  to  the  grave,  and  herself  dressed  all  in 
black.  She  never  forgot  this  one  interview  with  her  mother, 
which  she  interpreted  to  mean  an  injunction  laid  upon  her 
to  be  faithful  and  devoted  to  the  family;  and  such  she 
proved  herself  to  be.     She  adored  her  father. 

My  mother  had  large  generosity.  She  was  extremely 
kindly  to  the  poor  and  suffering.  In  her  last  days  she  said, 
"I  am  glad  I  have  never  allowed  any  one  to  go  away  hungry 
from  my  door."  And  so  she  passed  through  life,  performing 
kindly  acts,  a  real  lover  of  mankind.  She  was  like  her  father, 
liberal  in  religious  thought.  One  peculiarity  she  had  above 
other  women:  she  always  held  a  youthful  expression;  no 
one  ever  thought  of  her  as  being  old.  She  was  clear  in 
her  thought  until  the  end,  holding  no  fear  of  death.  She 
died  in  the  home  of  her  son,  Edward  Everett  Davis,  at 
Dehesa,  San  Diego  County,  Cal.,  on  the  6th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1904,  wishing  to  go  to  her  mother  and  father.  At 
her  funeral  her  grandson,  Sumner  Crosby,  read  by  her 
request  verses  from  which  the  following  is  one: — 

*'And  so  for  me  there  is  no  sting  to  death, 
And  so  the  grave  has  lost  its  victory; 
It  is  but  crossing  with  abated  breath, 
And  with  set  face,  a  strip  of  sea, 
To  find  the  loved  ones  waiting  on  the  shore. 
More  beautiful,  more  precious  than  before." 

"Washington,  D.C, 
"Senate  Chamber,  Dec.  8,  1906. 

^^My  dear  Cousin, — I  have  just  read  in  the  Transcript  the 
death  of  your  dear  mother,  which  has  come  as  a  great  shock 
and  surprise,  for  we  did  not  know  that  she  was  ill.  Do  please 
write  at  once  the  particulars.  I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  say 
that  she  passed  on  without  suffering.  There  is  nothing 
to  compare  with  the  death  of  your  mother.  I  was  never 
anything  but  the  boy,  Edward,  to  my  mother  so  long  as 
she  lived,  and  the  same  was  true  of  your  mother.  You 
never  grew  up  in  her  mind,  you  were  always  her  child. 

*' Yours  with  affection  and  sympathy,  in  which  Emily 
joins,  "E.  E.  Hale." 


53 


"The  Last  Word. 

'Fate  takes  the  pen  and  with  resistless  hand 
Sets  down  man's  sum  of  life, — so  many  days. 
So  many  journeys  along  destined  ways. 
So  many  hopes  wrecked  on  a  foredoomed  strand, 
So  many  griefs  that  none  shall  understand. 
And  strivings  none  shall  pity  or  shall  praise. 
So  many  joys  from  brief  and  passionate  blaze 
Trampled  to  blackness, — all  foreknown,  foreplanned. 
Yet  man,  not  fate,  decides  life's  final  word; 
Still  must  he  add  what  doubles  all  the  rest 
Or  make  it  nothing — still  despairing  write, 
*Woe  is  me  unhappy!' — or,  with  courage  stirred 
To  an  unfaltering  flame,  sum  up  each  test. 
And  set  down  calmly,  'I  have  fought  the  fight.'" 


Smith. 

Rev.  John  ^  Smith,  born  at  Brinspittie,  Dorsetshire, 
England,  about  1614;  minister  at  Barnstable,  Mass.,  1643; 
juryman;  deputy.  Appointed  to  attend  meetings  of  the 
Quakers  and  hear  their  defence;  reported  in  their  favor,  and 
so  displeased  his  brother-in-law.  Governor  Thomas  Hinckley. 
Withdrew  from  communion  with  the  church  for  conscien- 
tious reasons.  In  September,  1661,  he  led  in  organizing  a 
church  which  the  council  would  not  approve.  (MS.  in 
Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  quoted  by  Felt.) 

In  1673  he  was  called  to  Sandwich,  and  was  the  minister 
in  this  settlement  until  1689.  He  d.  in  17 — ,  [last  two  fig- 
ures not  deciphered];  m.,  about  1643,  Susanna,  dau.  of 
Samuel  and  Sarah  Hinckley,  who  came  in  the  Hercules, 
March,  1634. 

Samuel  Hinckley  was  in  Barnstable  in  1638;  town  oflScer;  his 
son  Thomas  became  governor  of  Plymouth  Colony;  will  prob. 
March  4,  1663,  names  dau.  Susanna  Smith  and  son  Thomas 
Hinckley. 


64 

Joseph  2  Smith,  b.  Dec.  6,  1667,  at  Barnstable;  m.  April 
29,  1689,  Anne  Fuller.  "He  was  an  important  man  in  the 
county;  selectman,  town  treasurer,  and  representative";  d. 
March  4,  1746. 

Edward  ^  Fuller  came  with  his  wife  in  the  MayUower,  and  signed 
the  compact.  Res.  Plymouth.  Both  he  and  the  wife  died  in 
the  winter  of  1621,  and  their  bodies  were  interred  on  Burial  Hill. 

Edward  Fuller  was  of  the  Leyden  Company  who  set  sail  on  the 
Speedwell,  and  was  afterward  on  the  Mayflower,  the  Speedwell 
proving  unseaworthy. 

Mathew  ^  Fuller,  b.  in  England,  place  and  date  of  birth  un- 
known. "He  did  not  come  to  New  England  until  after  his  father's 
death.  Little  is  known  of  his  early  history,  which  is  to  be  re- 
gretted, because  we  like  to  trace  successive  steps  by  which  an 
orphan  boy  became  eminent.  Captain  Mathew  Fuller  was  one  of 
the  earliest  physicians  of  Barnstable  County."  .  .  .  {Barnstable 
Families,  p.  376.) 

In  1642  he  is  in  Plymouth,  and  has  a  grant  of  land.  In  1653 
he  was  deputy  from  Barnstable  to  the  Colony  Court.  June  20, 
1654,  he  was  appointed  lieutenant  under  Captain  Miles  Standish 
of  a  company  of  fifty  men,  the  quota  of  Plymouth  Colony  in  the 
proposed  expedition  against  the  Dutch  Colony  of  Manhattoes, 
now  New  York.  Oct.  2,  1658,  he  was  elected  one  of  the  council 
of  war,  and  in  1671  its  chairman  and  one  of  the  magistrates  of 
the  colony.  Dec.  17,  1673,  he  was  appointed  surgeon-general  of 
the  colony  troops,  and  also  of  Massachusetts,  if  the  colony 
approved.     (Plymouth  Colony  Records.) 

"Capt.  Mathew  Fuller  was  appointed  to  be  surgeon-general  of 
all  the  forces  of  the  Colony."     (Bodge's  King  Philip's  War,  p.  462.) 

"In  1675  he  was  allowed  4  shillings  a  day  for  his  services  as 
Surgeon-General."  (Colony  Records.)  He  was  the  physician  who 
attended  Miles  Standish  in  his  last  sickness. 

Mathew  Fuller  m.  Frances  .     The  will  of  Dr.  Fuller  was 

probated  Oct.  30,  1678;  mentions  second  wife  Frances  and  Anne, 
wid.  of  son  Samuel. 

Samuel  ^  Fuller,  no  record  of  birth;    m.  Mary  .     He  was 

a  member  of  the  Colony  Committee  in  1670,  appointed  to  view 
the  injury  done  to  the  Indians  by  the  attack  of  the  English  and 
assign  damages.  He  was  a  town  officer,  also  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Plymouth  Colony  forces,  in  King  Philip's  War,  and  was  killed  in 
the  first  battle  of  that  dreadful  war,  at  Rehoboth,  March  25, 
1675.  His  dau.  Anne,  b.  1669,  m.  April  29,  1689,  Joseph  ^  Smith. 
{Barnstable  Families,  vol.  i.) 

Anne  [Fuller]  Smith  d.  July  2,  1722. 


56 

Rev.  Thomas  3  Smith,  b,  at  Barnstable,  Feb.  6,  1706; 
grad.  Harv.  Coll.  1725;  ordained  minister  at  Yarmouth, 
Mass.,  April  16,  1721;  m.  Aug.  29,  1734,  Judith  Miller. 

"Rev.  Thomas  Smith  was  a  man  of  note  in  his  day,  and 
sprang  from  an  honored  ancestry,  while  the  family  into 
which  he  married  was  of  even  more  distinguished  extrac- 
tion."    (New  Eng.  His.  and  Gen.  Reg.,  vol.  31,  p.  68.) 

"After  preaching  in  Yarmouth  for  twenty-five  years,  Mr. 
Smith's  religious  views  had  so  advanced  and  liberalized  as 
to  be  no  longer  in  accord  with  the  church.  Consequently 
he  asked  for  his  dismission  from  the  church,  which  was 
granted.  The  same  year,  1754,  he  settled  in  Pembroke, 
Mass.,  where  he  remained  until  his  death  July  7,  1788." 
He  was  spoken  of  as  a  fine  scholar  and  "the  most  distin- 
guished man  who  had  ever  been  settled  in  the  town." 
(Rev.  Morrill  Allen,  one  of  his  late  successors.) 

Rev.  John  ^  Miller  came  to  New  England,  1634,  with  wife 
Lydia  and  son  John;  grad.  Gains  Coll.,  Cambridge,  A.B.  1627; 
included  in  Mather's  Magnolia  in  his  "first  classis";  was  an 
elder  in  the  Roxbury  church,  with  Rev.  John  Eliot,  who  labored 
in  converting  the  Indians  and  translated  the  Bible  into  the  Indian 
language.  Mr.  Miller  was  an  assistant  from  1639  to  1641  to  the 
Rev.  Ezekiel  Rogers  at  Rowley,  Mass.,  and  was  also  town  clerk  in 
this  place.  In  1641  he  received  and  declined  a  call  to  become  the 
minister  at  Woburn.  In  1646  he  was  called  to  Yarmouth  to 
succeed  the  "famous  Marmaduke  Mathews."  His  wife  Lydia 
d.  in  Boston,  "at  the  home  of  Thomas  Bumstead,  Aug.  7,  1658." 
(Boston  Records.) 

After  the  death  of  his  wife  he  was  settled  in  Groton,  whither  he 
seems  to  have  gone  with  the  first  settlers.  "A  vote  passed  in 
Groton  March  18,  1662-3,  requested  Rev.  John  Miller  to  con- 
tinue with  them,  if  he  was  moved  to  do  so."  Land  was  granted  to 
him  in  this  same  year.  He  d.  in  Groton,  June  12,  1663,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  Samuel  Willard  [son  of  Major  Simon  ^1  who  was 
ordained  July  13,  1664.  "Mr.  Miller  is  said  to  have  been  a  man 
of  high  literary  attainments." 

John  2  Miller,  h.  in  England,  1631-2;  m.  Dec.  24,  1659,  Mar- 
gerett  Winslow,  h.  1640,  dau.  of  Josiah  and  Margerett  [Bourne] 
Winslow  and  niece  of  Gov.  Edward  Winslow.  (Josiah  Winslow 
was  h.  in  England,  bap.  Feb.  16,  1605[6],  son  of  Edward  Winslow, 
Esq.,  and  Magdalen,  his  wife,  of  Droitwich,  Worcestershire,  Eng- 


56 

land.  Josiah  Winslow  lived  in  Scituate,  and  afterwards  in  Marsh- 
field,  where  he  was  town  clerk  in  1643  and  many  years  after,  also 
representative.  "He  was  'Assistant'  to  his  brother.  Gov.  Edward 
Winslow."  He  d.  in  Marshfield,  Dec.  1,  1674;  his  wid.  Mar- 
gerett  d.  in  Marshfield,  Oct.,  1683;  of  their  children  whose  mar- 
riages are  recorded,  Martha  m.  John,  son  of  Gov.  William  Brad- 
ford, and  Margerett  m.  John  Miller.) 

John  Miller  settled  in  Yarmouth,  where  he  filled  various  offices 
of  trust,  and  was  frequently  its  representative  to  the  General 
Court;  d.  at  Yarmouth,  June  10,  1711. 

Josiah  3  Miller,  h.  at  Yarmouth,  Oct.  27,  1679;  m.  Aug.  13,  1708, 
Mary  Barker,  h.  April  14,  1674,  dau.  of  Isaac  and  Judith  [Prince] 
Barker.  Her  grandfather  was  Gov.  Thomas  Prince,  who  came 
in  the  Fortune  to  Plymouth,  Nov.,  1621.  His  first  wife  was 
Patience  Brewster,  dau.  of  Elder  William  Brewster,  who  d.  1634; 
m.  second,  April  1,  1635,  Mary  Collier,  she  was  the  grandmother 
of  Mary  [Barker]  Miller.  [Thomas  Prince  was  chosen  governor 
of  Plymouth  Colony  1633,  and  re-elected  repeatedly.]  Josiah 
Miller  was  a  prominent  man  in  the  county.  He  d.  in  Yar- 
mouth, April  15,  1729;  his  wid.  Mary  [Barker]  Miller  died  in 
the  home  of  her  son-in-law,  Rev.  Thomas  Smith,  in  Pembroke, 
Feb.  15,  1772,  nearly  94  years  old. 

William  Collier  of  Duxbury,  immigrant.  A  merchant  of  London, 
one  of  the  ''"Merchant  Adventurers,'^  came  over  before  1632  with 
four  daughters. 

In  1632  petitioned  General  Court  for  incorporation  of  Duxhury 
as  a  town.  In  Jan.,  1633-4,  on  board  of  assessors  for  the  colony. 
"He  became  a  leading  man  in  the  Pilgrim  government."  {The 
Mayflower  and  her  Log,  p.  372.)  "In  1660  William  Collier  was 
the  richest  man  in  the  Colony."  {The  Pilgrim  Republic,  p.  436.) 
Not  only  was  he  a  man  of  substance,  but  also  of  great  influence  and 
position.  In  163 Jf  he  was  made  assistant,  serving  in  that  capacity 
for  twenty -eight  years,  in  the  period  from  163 Jf,  to  1665.  In  16JiS 
he  was  one  of  the  two  commissioners  sent  from  Plymouth  to  the 
United  Colonies.  In  1657  he  presided  over  the  General  Court  for 
two  periods.  "Collier  was  rigid,  narrow  and  illiberal  in  his  views; 
with  three  others  he  tried  and  convicted  Howland  for  harboring 
a  Quaker  preacher  and  resisting  an  officer  who  tried  to  arrest 
the  preacher;  at  another  time  he  declared  he  would  not  remain 
in  the  General  Court,  if  Cudworth,  the  Quaker's  friend,  was 
admitted."     He  d.  in  1670.     Children,  all  b.  in  England: 

1.  Sarah,  m.,  1634,  Love  Brewster. 

2.  Rebecca,  m.,  1634,  Job  Cole. 

3.  Mary,  m.  [second  wife],  1635,  Thomas  Prince. 

4.  Elizabeth,  m.  Nov.  2,  1637,  Constance  Southworth. 


67 

Joseph*  Smith,  b.  at  Yarmouth,  Nov.  22,  1740;  m.  first 
Lucia  Wads  worth,  date  of  marriage  and  death  unknown  to 
writer.  He  m.  second,  Jan.  2,  1782,  Bathsheba  Torrey, 
dau.  of  William  and  Mary  [Turner]  Torrey. 

Bathsheba  Torrey  was  descended  from  Elder  William  Brewster 
and  from  Rev.  Peter  Hobart  of  Hingham,  in  New  England. 

Ancestry  of  William  and  Mary  [Turner]  Torrey:  Parents: 
Haviland  Torrey  w.  Elizabeth  Croade;  Ezekiel  Turner  m.  Bath- 
sheba Stockbridge.  Grandparents:  William  Torrey  m.  Deborah 
Green;  John  Croade  m.  Deborah  Thomas;  Major  Amos  Turner 
m.  Mary  Highland;  Joseph  Stockbridge  m.  Margerett  Turner. 
Great-grand:  William  Torrey  m.  Jane  Haviland;  John  Green  m. 
Ann  Almy;  John  Croade  m.  Elizabeth  Price;  Nathaniel  Thomas 
m.  Deborah  Jacobs;  John  Turner  m.  Mary  Brewster,  dau.  of 
Jonathan  Brewster  by  W.  Lucretia  Oldham;  gr.-dau.  of  Elder 
William   Brewster    (see   Elder    William   Brewster's   Descendants); 

Thomas    Hiland    m.    Elizabeth ;     Charles    Stockbridge    m. 

Abigail  ;    Joseph  Turner  m.  Bathsheba  Hobart,  dau.  of  Rev. 

Peter  Hobart  of  Hingham,  Mass.  Great-great-grand:  Philip 
Torrey  m.  Alice  Richards;  John  Green  m.  Joan  Tattersall;  William 

Almy  m.  Audrey ;  Nicholas  Jacobs  m.  Mary ;  Humphrey 

Turner  m.  Lydia    [Gainor    or    Gower];    Jonathan    Brewster  m. 

Lucretia  Oldham;    John  Stockbridge  m.  Ann  ;    Humphrey 

Turner  m.  Lydia  [Gainor  or  Gower]. 

Rev.  Peter  Hobart  by  2d  wife. 

William  Brewster  was  educated  at  Cambridge,  in  Latin 
and  Greek;  private  secretary  to  Davison  [Secretary  of 
State];  appointed  charge  of  the  port  at  Scrooby,  England. 
The  Pilgrims  met  at  his  house.  He  was  a  leader  in  the 
removal  to  Holland.  He  was  Ruling  Elder  of  the  church 
at  Delfshaven,  Holland.  "Elder  Brewster  was  the  chief 
figure  of  the  departing  Pilgrims  gathered  on  the  SpeedweTs 
deck  as  she  took  her  departure  from  Delfshaven."  {The 
Mayflower  and  her  Log,  Azel  Ames.) 

Elder  Brewster  was  a  printer  and  publisher.  "Had  the 
Pilgrims  gone  to  London  to  embark  for  America,  many,  if 
not  most  of  them,  would  have  been  put  in  prison,  especially 
William  Brewster."  {The  Story  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  p. 
196.) 

Brewster  with  his  family  was  transferred  to  the  Mayflower 


58 

at  Southampton.  The  ecclesiastical  authority  remained 
with  him  on  the  voyage  to  Plymouth.  He  signed  the  com- 
pact. He  d.  April  10,  1634;  wife  Mary  d.  1627.  Jonathan 
and  Love  Brewster  were  executors  of  their  father's  will. 

Elder  Brewster  left  a  library  of  four  hundred  volumes, 
including  sixty-two  in  Latin.  Public  records  and  journals 
give  a  full  account  of  his  life  at  Plymouth.  Among  them, 
that  of  Governor  Bradford's  is  of  the  greatest  interest. 

Of  the  articles  of  furniture  said  to  have  been  in  the 
Mayflower,  "it  is  altogether  probable  that  what  is  known  as 
Elder  Brewster's  chair  came  with  him  on  that  ship.  There 
is  even  greater  probability  as  to  one  of  his  books  having 
his  autograph."     (The  Mayflower  and  her  Log,  p.  214.) 

There  were  four  children  born  to  Joseph  Smith  by  his 
first  marriage  and  nine  children  by  the  wife  Bathsheba 
Torrey.  Capt.  Joseph  Smith  d.  in  Pembroke,  Aug.  11, 
1811;  his  wid.  d.  Jan.  25,  1844.  She  was  much  younger 
than  her  husband. 

"Capt.  Joseph  Smith  began  in  his  youth  to  follow  the 
sea,  and  steadily  progressed  until  the  troublous  times  of 
the  Revolution.  There  is  a  full  account  of  his  bravery  on 
the  sloop  Republic,  when  on  Oct.  24,  1776,  as  second  oflScer, 
he  was  instrumental  in  capturing  for  Washington's  army 
the  valuable  cargo  of  the  ship  Julius  Ccesar/'  (See  Massachu- 
setts Soldiers  and  Sailors  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  p.  478.) 

At  the  close  of  the  war  he  bought  a  farm  in  the  west 
parish  of  Pembroke.  This  family  has  been  prominent  as 
sea  captains,  and  several  of  them  have  lived  to  great  age. 

Catherine  ^  Smith,  b.  at  Pembroke,  May  24,  1787,  dau. 
of  Capt.  Joseph  Smith  by  wife  Bathsheba  Torrey;  m. 
in  Dedham,  Mass.,  Nov.  30,  1811,  Joel  Everett. 

"Mr.  Joel  Everett  and  Miss  Catherine  Smith."  (Town 
Records.) 

At  the  time  of  her  marriage  Miss  Smith  was  living  in 
the  family  of  her  uncle,  John  Dean,  in  Dedham.  The  mar- 
riage service  was  in  the  Episcopal  church  in  that  town. 
She  has  been  described  as  "the  most  beautiful  bride  who 
ever  entered  the  church."  This  is  probably  an  over-state- 
ment. 


59     ■-  /•'.:..:  :    -'  :"'.:  •;;■"•> 

Catherine  [Smith]  Everett  was  the  mother  of  two  daugh- 
ters: (1)  EHzabeth  Everett;  (2)  Catherine  Smith  Everett, 
who  married  Rev.  Nathan  Rice;   also  four  sons. 

She  was  the  grandmother  of  Mrs.  William  Sumner  Crosby. 

"O,  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud? 
Like  a  swift-fleeting  meteor,  a  fast-flying  cloud, 
A  flash  of  the  Hghtning,  a  break  of  the  wave. 
He  passes  from  life  .  .  .  [mortal  life], 
0,  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  he  proud?" 

The  reader  is  to  make  the  distinction  between  the  Pil- 
grims and  the  Puritans.  They  were  a  separate  body  of 
people  with  different  purposes  and  aims  in  coming  to  New 
England.  The  Pilgrims,  in  their  compact,  gave  us  that 
form  of  government,  the  first  in  the  world,  which  recog- 
nized a  people  with  equal  rights.  Later  its  principles  were 
adopted  into  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

From  the  compact:  "by  these  presents  solemnly  and 
mutually  in  ye  presence  of  God,  and  one  of  another,  cove- 
nant and  combine  our  selves  together  into  a  civill  body 
politick,  for  our  better  ordering  and  preservation  and  furth- 
erance of  ye  ends  aforesaid;  and  by  virtue  hereof  to  enacte, 
constitute,  and  frame  such  just  and  equall  lawes,  ordi- 
nances, acts,  constitutions,  and  offices,  from  time  to  time, 
as  shall  be  thought  most  meete  and  convenient  for  ye 
generall  good  of  ye  Colonic,  unto  which  we  promise  all  due 
submission  and  obedience. 

"In  witness  whereof  we  have  hereunder  subscribed  our 
names  at  Cap-Codd  ye  11,  of  November,  in  ye  year  of 
ye  raigne  of  our  soveraigne  lord.  King  James  of  England, 
France,  &  Ireland  ye  eighteenth,  and  of  Scotland  ye  fif tie- 
fourth.     An-  Dom.  1620." 

The  following  are  the  writer's  ancestors  who  signed  the 
compact:  William  Brewster,  John  Alden,  William  Mullens, 
William  White,  Edward  Fuller, 


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